You can call me a thief
by TheGirlWhoReadBooks
Summary: Eugene stole Rapunzel's heart, and vice versa. We all know that. But what happens when someone "steals" Rapunzel? Eugene sets off to find her, fearing that an old enemy might be back from the dead.
1. Chapter 1

Rapunzel woke up with a start. Her nightgown was drenched in sweat.

"Is everything all right?" Eugene asked. He'd probably forgotten that exactly one year had passed. One year since mother Gothel had tried to kill him. One year since she'd lost her healing powers. On year since she'd started a new chapter of her life. It hadn't seemed such a long time, and she'd almost managed to lock up her past in a remote place of her brain to never think about it again. Almost. She still had nightmares, every once in a while. But that night's nightmare had been the worst of them all, she was sure of it.

"Rapunzel?" Eugene noticed she'd gotten lost in her thoughts and brought her back to reality.

"What? Oh, everything's fine, don't worry." She lied.

"You already know you're a really bad liar, so why bother trying?" he smiled, and Rapunzel smiled back "Did you have a nightmare?"

Rapunzel nodded, and Eugene enveloped her in a warm hug, one of those that made her feel safe, no matter what was going on.

"You want to tell me about it?" he asked again. Rapunzel took a big breath and, with her face still buried in Eugene's chest, she started talking "We were sleeping, and then I woke up to find Gothel stabbing you in the same spot she stabbed you the last time, but I couldn't heal you. I wanted to scream, but she said it would be useless, since no one would come to my aid because all the palace guards were dead. I screamed anyway, and when no one came she laughed. She'd come here for revenge, not for my power. She knew I'd used the last bit of it to save you. She just wanted to kill us."

Her husband smoothed down her short hair and pressed her closer to his chest "She's dead, she can't hurt anyone anymore. Alright? She's just a ghost from your past, one you've tried to cage but keeps breaking free. Nothing more." He reassured her.

"It's been an year" she just said, hoping he'd understand. Eugene remained silent for a moment, then understood what the Princess was talking about " I know." He didn't know what else to say, so he thought this might be the right time to tell her what he'd held back, thinking it might just make her worry even more "You know, I sometimes have nightmares too." He whispered "I think it's normal. We'll get rid of them, sooner or later". Then he kissed Rapunzel's forehead and they both laid back down, her head on his chest and his arm around her waist.

"Sorry if I woke you up"

"You can wake me up any time you want, Blondie" Eugene grinned, and Rapunzel felt better.

_No one will take him away from me, ever_ she told herself. She didn't know that she might be wrong. Outside the window, in fact, a dark figure was watching them. She was surprised by how much the Princess and the thief were in love. And, for a fraction of a second, she thought her mission was wrong. But then she got back to business, and ran away quickly to go report to her boss.

...

"Good morning, my Prince" Rapunzel said as she opened her eyes. Eugene was stirring beside her as daylight started filling the room.

"Good morning" he replied, and placed a soft kiss on her lips. None of them brought up what had happened the night before, and they both thought it was better that way.

"What's on our schedule for today?" Eugene asked.

"I have no idea. But maybe we'll find out if we go downstairs to have breakfast" Rapunzel replied.

"Very well, then"

A few minutes later they entered the dining room of the palace.

"Rapunzel, how many times have I told you to put on your shoes?" the Queen asked, suppressing a smile.

"I'm sorry mom, I just forget them every time" she excused herself. She'd done her best to fit in at the palace, but she just kept forgetting to wear her shoes. That probably happened because she'd never needed them. She'd lived the first eighteen years of her life barefoot, and she knew she could've gone on like that forever, but that wasn't very Princess-like.

Her father smiled, and she smiled back as she took the seat next to him.

"So, what is my schedule today?" the Princess asked.

"You don't have one" the King replied.

"It's been an year since you came back, so today you can do whatever you like" the Queen explained.

"Really? That's great! But what about my lessons?"

"You don't have any today. Just make sure you've done your homework for tomorrow." the Queen winked at her. Rapunzel thanked them and, once she'd finished breakfast, she went to the gardens with Eugene.

"Do you feel it, too?" He asked.

"What?" the Princess looked confused.

"It's like if someone's watching us." He said. He knew he'd probably make her worry, but after the night before he'd decided not to hide anything form his wife. Rapunzel's eyes widened, and she shook her head.

"Never mind, it must be my thief instincts. I still haven't managed to get rid of those. Although they might come in handy someday." He grinned, and Rapunzel poked him.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here is the second chapter. Hope you'll enjoy it! Also, thanks to MyNameIsAlexandraRider for her review :)**

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He'd been patient. He'd waited for 19 years before starting to put his plan into gear. He'd worked out every single detail, so that no one could've ever traced back to him. He'd had plenty of time, and now he was finally about to make sure his mother's death hadn't been vain. He'd dreamed of killing Gothel so many times he'd lost count of them, but he'd never had the chance to do it, and she was gone now. So his goal had changed, now he just wanted his part of the "treasure". After all, his mother had been Gothel's most trusted servant for so many years... And then, after she'd found out about the flower's power, Gothel had killed her. It was his right to use the flower's magic.

"My lord, I have news to report" said the hooded figure that had entered the room a few seconds before.

"I'm listening, Jean" the master replied. The figure took off her cloak. She was a woman in her twenties, with short dark hair and piercing eyes. She took a deep breath and started talking.

"The thief might've noticed my presence, this morning, but he thought it must've been an impression." she bit her lip, expecting her master to say something. When he remained silent she sighed with relief and went on "The Princess has been given a day off any activity, since it's been an year since she came back. Nothing else happened. I think it might be the right time to strike, now that everything looks so perfect."

The man turned slowly, and glared at her with his ice blue eyes.

"Jean, you know you're my best spy, but you just broke rule number one... Do you remember what that is?"

"Never suggest anything" she said, looking at her feet.

"Very well. Next time, think before you talk." he hissed.

"I will. Forgive my insolence, master" said the spy, lowering her head. There was a moment of silence, before the man spoke "We will break into the castle tonight, when most of the personnel will be sleeping. You'll go ahead, and give a signal when the royal couple will be sound asleep. Do not let me down." he said every word of the last sentence very slowly, to make sure it sank in.

"I won't." Jean promised.

"We'll see." Said the master as she exited the room. He got back to the window and looked outside for the umpteenth time. He could see the castle of Corona, in the distance. It was just a little dot, but he still spent hours looking at it. That happened because he was one of the few people to know that the secret to unlock eternal youth had been living there for the past 'd looked everywhere to find the Princess, when Gothel had kidnapped her, but he'd had to admit that she'd hidden herself well. So he just waited for someone to rescue the Princess, planning to get her once she was back at the palace. And now, thanks to that thief who'd found her, he could finally get what was rightfully his.

...

" 'Never _ever_ suggest anything'! What kind of rule is that?" Jean muttered to herself as she headed to her quarters. She had a special treatment, since she was one of Conall's most trusted men. Even though she was a woman. She'd always found it quite funny, being the only woman around the palace and yet playing such an important role. Not that she was too happy to serve Conall. She'd ended up in his arrays when she'd come to the palace begging for someone to save her father. He'd been attacked by a wild boar and had lost a lot of blood. Needless to say, he died shortly afterwards, just in time for Conall to find out what a good archer Jean was. She started working for him and quickly reached the highest ranks. Many hated her for that, but she didn't care.

She got into her room and sat on her bed with a sigh. She couldn't help feeling guilty for ruining the Princess's 'happy ever after', but she knew she had no choice but go on with the mission. She shook her head and tried to focus on something else, like how she planned to run away from Conall's palace as soon as the job was over. She'd start living in the forest, like a female Robin Hood. She smiled at that thought. Then she laid down and tried to get some rest, in order to be ready for the next night's great event.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter three! I'd hoped for the first part to be a bit better, but I'm happy with how the chapter turned out anyways. Enjoy, and please review :)**

**A/N 2: Thanks to Umbre0n for reviewing!**

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"Now, when did I fall in love with you? That's a tough one.. It would be very romantic if the answer was 'the moment I met you', but we both know things didn't go that way" Eugene said. He and Rapunzel were huddled in their bed, talking about their adventure. They asked each other if they remembered this or that detail, and they were slowly starting to discover that they'd focused on different particulars.

"You didn't like me at all, did you?" Rapunzel teased. She could hear his heart beating, since her head was resting on his chest. She'd become used to that sound, in the past months.

"Hey, you were keeping me away from my crown!" Eugene replied defensively.

"Your crown?" Rapunzel raised an eyebrow. She was really enjoying that game.

"I mean, your crown." Eugene quickly corrected himself, smiling guiltily. Rapunzel poked him "You know, it's not like your smile can always get you out of trouble" she said.

"I know, I know.. But it does work most of the time"

Rapunzel glanced at him, pretending to be annoyed, and Eugene added "Going back to your question... You impressed me with what you did at the Snuggly Duckling, and from then on I just liked you more and more. I couldn't help it." He smiled, hoping she'd forgive his bragging, and Rapunzel smiled back.

"What about you, Blondie?" the Prince Consort asked. Now it was his turn.

"You mean when I started falling in love with you?" Rapunzel raised her head for a moment, then laid it back on Eugene's shoulder.

"Yup." He was playing with her hair, as he often did. He was glad he'd cut it: living with such long hair surely wouldn't have been easy! Plus, he thought she was way more beautiful with her hair cut short.

"It's not that hard, actually. Somewhere between when we were trapped in the cave and when I told you my hair didn't just glow." Rapunzel answered. It sounded a bit obvious, since she wouldn't have revealed her secret to just anyone.

"So I liked you first." Eugene said "Don't I get a special award for that?"

"You mean like this?" Rapunzel asked, kissing him. Eugene grinned "That could work."

...

Jean waited, hiding in the shadows. They had become her most trusted allies, and she knew exactly where they would be thicker or thinner. She felt incredibly guilty as she saw the Princess and the Prince Consort kiss. She felt guilty for a lot of things: for spying on them, for helping Conall, for being there the night the Princess's life was going to change, and not in a good way. She shook her head, swallowed, and removed her feelings. If she wanted to be efficient her heart had to turn to ice for a while. There'd be time for regrets later, one she was off living in the woods. The thought of the woods made her feel better. She tried relaxing and melting with her surroundings: the crickets playing their song, the night birds getting ready to hunt, the twinkling stars that seemed to make a sound of their own. She'd learnt to feel the nature around her when she was just a little girl. Her father had taught her, since the first ability required to be a good hunter was to blend in. She missed him so much. Again, she had to take her mid off the subject and went back to waiting passively.

Finally, the royal couple fell asleep. Jean sighed with relief: she'd feared they were going to spend the whole night talking. She lost some precious time wondering whether she'd ever find her true love or not. Maybe she was better off on her own, she told herself. Then she snapped out of it and unsheathed her small dagger. She directed it towards the moon. It reflected the light, gleaming in the night: that was the signal the squad was waiting. Suddenly, grappling hooks started appearing on the palace roof. A handful of men dressed in black climbed onto it, al silent as cats, then each one of them went in a different direction, ready to do their job. They didn't even glance at her. That was how they worked: they were a team, but everyone was on his own once on a mission. Maybe that was why they were so efficient, because they only worried about themselves. Their task was simple: make sure the guards took a nap, so she could sneak in and come back out with the Princess as quickly as possible.

Jean left her hiding place and jumped onto the terrace. She'd hoped the window would be open, since it had been very hot in the past few days. She was lucky: it was wide open and the white curtain fluttered in the light breeze that had showed up a few minutes earlier. She walked to the bed, knowing that her stealthy step surely wasn't going to wake up the couple. When she got to the bed she realized taking away the Princess without waking her husband was going to be nearly impossible: his arms were around the Princess's waist, and her right arm was blocked by the Prince Consort's back.

Jean rubbed a hand across her forehead, thinking. She would never be able to kidnap the Princess alone, unless… She had two options: killing the Prince or making sure he wasn't going to wake up for a while. Without even thinking, she went with the least drastic of the two. She glanced around the room, looking for something heavy enough. That's when she spotted the frying pan. She had no idea what the hell it was doing there, but she grabbed it and walked back to the bed. She hesitated a moment before she hit the thief hard on the head. The sound echoed across the huge room, and she worried the Princess's sleep might've been disturbed by it. So she waited, ready to see what was going to happen. When the Princess didn't shift, she sighed with relief. Then she hit her as well. Just to be safe. Again, the sound hovered in the room for a while, making her hope the rest of the squad had already taken care of most of the palace personnel.

The spy moved on to freeing the Princess from her husband's hug. It turned out to be easier than what she'd expected, having knocked out both of them. She carried the Princess outside, looking at her apologetically. She glanced back at the Prince Consort, and imagined what would happen when he woke up to find out his bride was gone. A tall man appeared behind her. His job was very simple: he'd come just to carry the Princess.

"If she gets to the palace with just one scratch, I'll make sure you pay for it." Jean warned the man. She didn't trust him. She didn't trust any of Conall's men, because they all were mercenaries, fighting for who placed the best offer. The man nodded, annoyed, and Jean whistled, breaking the apparent silence of the night. She hoped all the squad had heard the signal. It meant they'd achieved their goal, and it was time to go. She hesitated, not really knowing what she was waiting for. Then she turned to climb on to the roof. The man shoved Rapunzel on his shoulder and followed her.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Chapter 4! I didn't have all that time to review it properly, so I hope it's not too bad... **

**I decided I'm probably going to update on Tuesdays and Fridays. I hope I'll be able to keep up with that schedule :)**

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Eugene had always hated waking up. That had changed once he and Rapunzel had started sharing a bed, three months earlier. He usually woke up a while after Rapunzel, but when it was the other way round, he liked to watch her sleep, then wake her up with a kiss on her forehead. She'd open her big green eyes and smile at him, letting the day start in the most perfect of ways.

But that morning, when the sunlight coming through the window disturbed Eugene's sleep, he woke up to find he was alone in their big bed. Awful way to start a day. He wondered where Rapunzel might've been, maybe washing her face in the bathroom, maybe it was so late she'd decided to go downstairs and have breakfast without him, maybe something had happened in the middle of the night and she hadn't wanted to wake him up… There were a lot of options. And those were just the one he was considering. There were other possibilities, ones he didn't even want to think about. He brushed away the sleep from his face with his hands, then ran them through his hair. He jumped out of bed, got dressed and decided it was time to find out what was going on. Rushing down the staircase, he became more and more worried. The possibilities he'd tried not to think of were slowly creeping into the back of his mind, making his heart beat faster. He wasn't even looking where he was going, so he bumped into a palace guard.

"Sorry, I didn't see you.." he excused himself, as he walked on.

"Don't worry, Your Highness" replied the guard. A second later, Eugene spun around, hit by an idea "Have you seen the Princess?" he asked the guard.

"I'm afraid not." Answered the guard, looking down at his feet. _Bad liar_ thought Eugene as he moved closer to the guard "Would you please tell me what's going on?" he asked again, saying every word very slowly. He hated it when people tried to hide things from him. Especially if they were hiding something about Rapunzel.

"I… Ehm… It would be better if you followed me, Highness" said the guard, as beads of sweat started forming on his forehead. He had no idea how to tell the Prince Consort what was really going on. Eugene nodded "Fine." And let the guard lead him to the throne room, where the King and the Queen were giving orders to a group of soldiers.

"What's going on?" Eugene asked, knowing that his tone could've been considered rude, but he was starting to freak out. What could possibly be happening? Why didn't the guard want to tell him? What if Rapunzel.. No! He couldn't let those thoughts get into his mind. Everybody in the room stopped, even the fly that had been annoying one of the soldiers. Tears started welling up in the Queen's eyes, as she took a deep breath.

"Rapunzel is… gone" said the Queen at last, sobbing desperately. Eugene begun shaking his head violently, as the world went crumbling around him "No. No, no, no! This can't be happening!" he told himself. His worst nightmare had become reality: he'd lost Rapunzel. He wished he could wake up, as he did every time he dreamed of Rapunzel still locked up in that tower with Gothel, but he knew he couldn't. Everyone in the room stayed quiet as Eugene quickly made up his mind.

"I'm going to find her." He muttered, then left the room. Almost everyone knew exactly where he was going.

"Max! Max, Rapunzel's gone!" he yelled as he reached the horse's box. Max's eyes widened, then he put on his battle expression, as to say "let's go after the bad guys."

"Good boy." Said Eugene as he patted his back and started to saddle him.

"Son, you know you can't just go out there looking for her." Said a voice behind him. Eugene turned to see the King looking at him sympathetically. His eyes were sad as the Prince Consort had never seen them.

"I have to." He replied "I can't just sit around wondering if I'll ever see her again!" He mounted Max, ready to go.

"I was expecting that kind of answer." The King smiled sadly "Good luck then."

"I'll find her, I promise." Said Eugene. Then he took Max's reins and held them so tight his knuckles became white "Let's go". Max took off, leaving the King in the courtyard. He was sure Eugene would find his daughter. The question he couldn't answer was whether they were going to come back alive.

...

Max was running through the forest, not exactly following a path, but hoping he'd find one soon. That's when Eugene felt something climbing onto his shoulder. To his surprise, he found Pascal looking at him reproachfully. If the situation had been different, he would've probably asked the frog (chameleon, whatever) what was wrong, but he had more important things on his mind. Like how he was going to find Rapunzel. And figuring out who'd kidnapped her. He knew Gothel was dead, but he still feared there might be her behind all of this. The thought of Rapunzel being kidnapped by Gothel made him sick. That woman had already ruined the Princess's life for eighteen years, and that was far more than enough. But if Gothel wasn't behind all of this, then who was? He wondered. It was like a giant puzzle, one of those with a thousand little pieces, and he was trying to position the center tiles first. He knew it was wrong. He knew he'd never complete it if he kept going that way and he'd better start form the corners if he wanted to achieve something, but he'd always been the kind of guy who acted before thinking. As Pascal decided being angry at Eugene for almost leaving him behind would be no use, Eugene thought "Hang in there, Blondie, I'm coming". It was some sort of promise, and he knew nothing would ever make him break it.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter, it being the longest one I've written up until now. But, since the length isn't half as important as the content (or, at least, that's what I've been told my whole life) I hope you like it. Enjoy :)**

**A/N: Thanks to Umbre0n, mrshcullark08 and Rapunzel gold for their reviews. You have no idea how happy I am when I see the reviews have increased :D**

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The first thing Rapunzel became aware of were the rays of sun that touched warmly her face. The second thing she became aware of was that she felt like she'd been sleeping on the floor, and the last one was that she'd actually slept on the floor.

Her eyes wide open, she sat up and took in her surroundings. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, realizing she was in a tower. Both the circular walls and the floor were made out of stone, and sent a chill down her spine. There was nothing in the room, except for some chains attached to the wall, which made Rapunzel wish she still had her seventy feet of hair, so that she could wrap them around herself and feel a bit safer. The sun came in from a little window, almost too small for her to stick her head out.

"Don't panic" she told herself, trying to keep her blood cold. She took a few deep breaths, and analyzed the situation: she was locked up in a tower, somewhere... She slowly got up and looked out the tiny window, seeing nothing but the sky. She looked as low as she could, and spotted some trees. Very well, she was in the forest. That already was a starting point. So she knew, very approximatively where she was, but she still didn't know why she was there. The only option was that someone had kidnapped her during the night. She was surprised she hadn't woken up. True, she was a heavy sleeper, but she'd always thought she'd wake up if someone got into her room at night. Let alone if someone transported her away from the castle.

The next question she tried to answer was what they'd kidnapped her for. Nobody, except Eugene and her parents, knew about her lost gift. Maybe they just wanted the King and Queen to pay some sort of ransom. She hoped that was all her kidnappers wanted, because there wasn't anything else she could give them.

Rapunzel ran a hand through her hair, as she'd seen Eugene do so many times. Doing so, she found a big bump on the top of her head, which explained why she hadn't woken up, meaning they'd probably hit her with something, like she had when Eugene had first come to her tower. She smiled at the thought of her husband, but her expression quickly changed when she realized he surely was going to chase after her. What if he got himself killed again? She couldn't lose him, not for anyhting in the world. She still remembered way too well how holding his dead body had felt, even though she'd tried hard to remove that memory from her brain and her heart.

All she could to was hope her kidnappers had hidden themselves too well for Eugene to find them, since she wouldn't be able to save him, this time. Saving Eugene was the only thing that made her grateful she'd had those healing powers. Sometimes she thought how her life would've been without them: she'd have never been kidnapped by Gothel, she'd have grown up as a princess and she probably would've never met Eugene. Or, at least, she'd have met only Flynn Rider. She was glad she'd had her powers because she'd met Eugene and she'd been able to save him, but not for anything else.

She sighed and curled up on the hard stone floor, waiting, and hoping she'd get back the perfect life she'd finally managed to live as soon as possible.

...

Jean looked at the plate she was holding in her hand, then at the wooden door in front of her. Suddenly, going in there looked like a really bad idea. She should've already been running in the woods, but of course, her heart had convinced her that she had to stay and make sure the Princess was fine. What was she thinking? That she'd go in there and say "Oh, hi! It's my fault if your locked up in this tower, but I didn't do it on purpose! Can we still be friends?" and the Princess would just be her usual cheerful self? Sure, that would work. She shook her head and groaned. She hesitated another couple of seconds, deciding what would be better: going back down or meeting the Princess. Climbing all those stairs had been really tiring, and she didn't feel like wasting all the trouble she'd gone through to get some food and steal the keys to the tower just because she was afraid of what the Princess would think of her. So she got out the keys and opened the door.

Rapunzel sat up, straightened her back and put on the fiercest expression she could manage, at the sound of the door opening. She was rather surprised when she saw a woman carrying a plate coming in.

"Princess, your breakfast" said the woman, keeping her head low. Rapunzel realized she was a servant, and was a bit surprised by the fact she'd been called 'Princess': she was a prisoner, after all. Anyway, she relaxed a bit and, without even wondering what was in it, she took the plate. She started eating, because even though she hadn't noticed it earlier, she was starving. It must've been really late in the morning if she was so hungry.

"Thank you." She said, looking gratefully at the woman. Then she gestured for her to sit on the floor, beside her. She didn't mind some company, and, who knew, maybe she would find out some more about what was going on.

"Oh, I don't think I can stay here" said the woman, shaking her head. She didn't move, though, because she had to wait for her to finish her breakfast, so she could return the plate to the kitchen.

"Please, I would really like to be able to talk to someone" pleaded Rapunzel, hoping the woman would stay and talk to her. The woman remained silent for a few seconds, then she raised slightly her head, looking at her in the eyes.

"Is that a yes?" Rapunzel asked expectantly. The woman nodded and sat down next to her. Rapunzel guessed she'd accepted her invitation because she didn't get to meet new people very often, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was that she now had a way to discover something about her captors and someone to talk to, as well.

"So, what's your name?" Rapunzel asked, as she finally got to see the woman's face. She was a bit older than her, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three, and her hair, black, just like her eyes, was cut really short. It was the first time she saw a woman with such short hair, even though she'd seen lots people during the past year. She already appreciated her originality.

"Jean" she answered readily, as Rapunzel met her eyes. There was something about them... They were deep, piercing, and they kept gleaming in the sunlight that filtered through the window, but they almost looked empty, since Jean managed to show none of her emotions in them.

"Well, Jean, why are you here?" asked again the Princess, who thought she'd have all the time to get the information she wanted once they'd started to know each other.

"Oh, it's a very long story..." she trailed off, not being so happy to share her past with someone.

"We have lots of time: it's not like I'm going to get out of here any soon..."

Jean looked at the Princess for a while, wondering how much she could tell without getting herself in trouble. Maybe she could tell her a modified, shorter version of her story.. She decided it would work well enough for both of them, since she wouldn't be lying (not completely, at least) and the Princess would be getting a story. So she started talking about everything that had happened to her, from the day her dad had decided to go after the wild boar that had killed him, to how she became one of Conall's servants. She didn't say what happened after that, how she became Conall's best spy, how she'd spied on the royal couple for months, waiting for the right moment to strike. She didn't tell her how she'd sneaked into the castle of Corona the night before and hit her on the head with a frying pan. No, she stopped there and waited for the Princess's reaction.

"I'm s sorry for all that happened to you!" said the Princess, when she finished speaking. Her eyes told that she really meant what she was saying. She was also very grateful to the woman for telling her the name of the boss was Conall. It was another puzzle piece and, even though it was really small, it surely would help her reconstruct the whole picture.

"Oh, it's not so bad here" Jean tried a smile to reassure the Princess, but she wasn't so convinced herself, and the Princess noticed it. She bit her lip, then asked "Why didn't you try escaping?"

She'd asked that question both because she was wondering why she kept staying if she didn't like the place at all, and because she wanted to know wether there was a way to get out of there.

"I don't know if there's a way to escape" lied the spy disguised as servant. She felt bad for lying to her, especially after Rapunzel had totally believed the story she'd told her and had even felt sorry for her. Jean stayed silent for a few moments, deciding what she should do: tell Rapunzel the truth or stick with the incomplete version of the story she'd told her. She didn't like neither of the options...

Fortunately, she didn't have much time to think about it, because she realized Conall was going to be in the room soon, and she'd better get out of it before he saw her.

"I have to get going" she told the Princess as she got up, smoothed down her gown and picked up the now empty plate.

"Can't you stay a while longer?" Rapunzel looked up at her. She didn't like the idea of being alone once again.

"Conall will be coming soon, and he would get really mad if he found me here" answered Jean. That was the first completely true sentence she'd said since she'd come into the tower. It felt good to be sincere, every once in a while.

"Oh. I hope I'll get to see you again." said Rapunzel, who had become even more uncomfortable when she'd heard of Conall's visit. Jean was sorry for all that was happening to her, but there was nothing she could do to help. Or, at least, nothing that wouldn't mess up her plans.

"I'll come back as soon as I can" promised Jean. She didn't know if she'd be able to visit the Princess again, but she'd started that conversation lying, so she didn't feel too guilty for ending it the same way. Rapunzel smiled and Jean opened the door, slipping out of the room.

Once alone, Rapunzel thought about what she'd found out: that the boss, Conall, was about to come into the tower. Not much, but still something. Maybe she'd be able to learn something more when Jean came back, which she hoped she'd do.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: New chapter! Hope you like it :) Also, thanks for reviewing to 16waysar, Nibs98 and, as usual, to Umbre0n :D**

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Jean ran down the stairs, praying that Conall wasn't going to be there so soon. If she bumped into him while he went up the stairs, she was going to have to answer lot of questions, and she wasn't so sure she had the right answers... She tried distracting herself by thinking about something else, like the fact that there were seventy-two steps to climb to get to the top of the tower, where the Princess was held. She knew that because she'd counted them personally while she went up the tower that morning. She'd heard rumors about the number of the steps to the tower, and most of the palace personnel claimed it to be seventy-two. Amazingly, they were right. Jean wondered how that could've been possible. No one ever went up there, and maybe it was even forbidden.. So how did they know the exact number of the steps? She started making up different possibilities: maybe someone had been locked in the tower, a short time before she came, and one of the servants had had to bring food to him; maybe it was written somewhere in a book containing the history of the palace (which wasn't all that likely, since most of the personnel couldn't read or write)...

When she saw the end of the staircase, she wiped those thoughts from her mind and concentrated on what to do not to get spotted by some of the guards, even though there usually were none. She liked to keep herself in training, making her 'job' become a game, so that she could forget what kind of people she was dealing with. Not that it worked all that much, but still...

She jumped the last step and kept running until she was far enough from the West wing, where the tower was. Nobody usually went here, because there was nothing to see, really. She, instead, had explored the West wing lots of times, mostly because she liked being alone and discovering things other people completely ignored. She stopped running and started walking, trying to calm down and get her heart to beat at a normal rate. She was a fast runner, but she was a bit out of training, and it wasn't like she had really huge lungs.

When she found herself in the North wing, she started using some old passageways, that almost everyone had forgotten about. She'd discovered them slowly, during the many sleepless nights she'd spent in the palace, during the first period of her stay. There were so many ways to get out of there, and Conall didn't even know about the existence of the easiest ones to spot! Sometimes people could be so blind...

Finally, she reached her quarters, closed herself in her room and quickly changed into her usual clothes. The ones she'd been wearing had been given to her when she first arrived at the palace, and she'd kept them because they could've come in handy, someday, as had just been proved. She sat on the bed and took a deep breath, finally relaxing a bit. She'd done something completely insane, and she knew it, but she'd felt so guilty... She still did. Apparently, visiting the Princess hadn't helped at all. Then what was she supposed to do? Get the Princess out of the palace? She couldn't, and she knew that. There was no way they'd get far before being caught.

...

The door opened again, and Rapunzel knew who it was, this time. Or, at least, she had a pretty good guess. She straightened herself once again and wondered what this Conall was going to be like.

A man walked in. He held his head high, so Rapunzel immediately noticed his ice blue eyes. They were as cold as she'd never seen before, and sent a chill down her spine. His hair was as long as hers, but it was darker. Rapunzel took in every detail about him: how he seemed to be constantly keeping an eyebrow raised, as if he thought the whole world wasn't good enough for him; how his white shirt was slightly too big for him, so that it made him look even thinner than what he already was, and how you had too look very hard to find the spot where his trousers left space to his leather boots, since they were the exact same shade of black. She didn't like him, not even a bit.

"Good morning, Princess" his voice was hoarse, the voice of a leader, and he seemed to be sure he was going to get what he wanted. Maybe it had been like that his whole life. Maybe he was a spoiled kid who thought becoming a thief would be a great adventure.. Rapunzel wished she knew his story, so that she could've understood him better. Lately, she'd been really intrested in people's stories, as she'd started thinking that every one of them deserved to be heard and had a special place in some big book no one would ever be able to read.

"Who are you?" she asked. The question came to her mouth without her even thinking about it. It was weird, since she already knew the answer, but maybe her brain had been so concentrated on making sure he didn't notice someone had given her information she had actually removed what had happened half an hour earlier.

"My name is Conall, and this is my palace." replied the man, emphasizing the word _my_ and letting Rapunzel understand how proud he was of himself.

"Where am I?" she asked. The question came on its own once again, but this time it was due to the fact that she didn't know the answer, since she hadn't had time to ask Jean.

"Somewhere safe." simply answered Conall. Rapunzel gritted her teeth, mentally cursing him for having avoided her question, but she thought she'd better not annoy him, so she changed subject.

"Why am I here?" was her next question. She really needed to know the answer, and it possibly was the one that scared her most: it could've been for a thousand different reasons she didn't even want to imagine. She just hoped he wasn't going to avoid answering properly again.

"Let's say a common friend brought us together." he said quizzically, probably wanting the Princess to ask an explanation. She did, in fact, while she wondered what friend could they have ever had in common. Conall smiled, seeming rather amused to see the Princess in such a state of confusion, then gave a clearer answer "I knew Mother Gothel". He talked very slowly, letting the information he'd just delivered sink in.

Those four words made Rapunzel panic, and even though she tried hard not to show it, she wasn't so sure it had worked. If Conall had known Mother Gothel, then there was only one possible reason behind her kidnapping...

"Don't worry, Princess, no harm will occur to you if you just give me what I want." Conall reassured her, probably noticing how fear shone in her eyes. He seemed to be pleased by the effect his words had had. That just made Rapunzel feel sick.

"What do you want?" she decided to play dumb, even though she knew she had no chance to pull it off, because she didn't have a better idea.

"Oh, the same thing Gothel wanted: eternal youth." he replied, as if it had been obvious. Which, actually, it was.

"I'm sorry, but there's no way I can help you." said the Princess, finally managing to show nothing in her eyes but hatred. She despised that man, who had brought her away form her new life just for his selfish needs, as she'd probably never despised anyone.

"I know what your powers are." Conall replied, thinking she must be really naïve to think she could trick him so easily.

"I lost them" Rapunzel shot back, telling the truth. She'd used her last drop of power to bring back Eugene, and she was glad there was now no trace of the flower's magic in her blood. She'd hoped she'd finally get to have a normal life with the man she loved, but apparently Gothel managed to ruin her life even from the world of the dead.

"You're lying" hissed Conall. He was sure there was no way to get rid of that kind of power. Plus, why should one want to get rid of it?

"Take a good look at my hair and you'll see I'm not. I cut it, and the power went away along with it." she explained. She knew he wasn't going to believe a word she said, but what did she have to do? Say she had her powers when she didn't?

"Impossible" Conall looked at her in the eyes for a few seconds, trying to decipher what was going on inside her brain. Could she be really telling the truth? That story sounded so unbelievable... He'd met lots of people who lied even about the most important things, and surely that girl was no exception. She had to be a liar, otherwise the work of a lifetime would've been blown to ashes.

"Oh, no, very possible. The magic is gone, you're too late." Rapunzel hated that man in the same way she hated Gothel, and she guessed it was because of the way they wanted to be young forever, disregarding everyone else's needs and wishes to get what they wanted. She wasn't scared of getting old, not if she had the chance to live the life she'd always wanted, not if she had Eugene by her side.

"Very well. It looks like you're not in a very cooperative mood. Now, I don't want to harm you, but I have to convince you to help me, somehow. So I'd say I'll make sure you won't eat for the next two days. How do you like that?" Conall said at last, waiting for her reaction. His eyes met hers, and for a moment Rapunzel was tempted to look at the ground.

"My answer won't change" replied Rapunzel "I lost my powers"she spelled out, holding his glance.

"See you in two days, Princess" Conall hissed before getting out of the room, and leaving Rapunzel alone with herself. She closed her eyes and found shelter inside her brain.

She had no idea how not eating for two days was, but she guessed she was going to find out soon anyway, so why bother thinking about it? What she really needed to dedicate herself to was a plan. A plan to get out of there. She hoped Jean was going to come back and visit her, even though she didn't have to bring her any food. She needed Jean to tell her how to get out of there, or she'd end up being a prisoner for the rest of her life.

Those thoughts followed one another, keeping her busy. When they left her mind, though, she concentrated on how it was happening all over again. She was locked up in a tower because of her magic powers for the second time in her life. This time she didn't even really have them, but Conall didn't look like he was going to believe her anytime soon. This time she wouldn't (and couldn't) wait for someone to rescue her. She had to escape on her own, otherwise she might as well lose another eighteen years of her life.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So, in this chapter, the thugs will make their first appearence. They weren't exactly planned to be in the story, but then I realized Eugene wasn't going to accomplish much on his own, and the story wouldn't be complete without them, so I added them to the plot. I've been thinking about Jean as well, if she should die or not.. I guess I still have to figure that out. **

**Also, thanks to Umbre0n, Rapunzel gold and fictional-characters for reviewing :D**

**I think I've said everything, so... Enjoy the chapter! Hope you like it :)**

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"We can't just stay here and let him go on a suicide mission!" said Hook Hand, shifting his glance from a pub thug to the other. They'd all gathered around a big wooden table, their faces as serious as they rarely were.

"Sucide? Who said suicide? I don't like suicide.." Shorty was as drunk as usual, and probably hadn't understood a word of what they'd said up until then. Not a big problem, since no one was really paying attention to him.

"Yeah, we have to help Rider save Rapunzel!" Big Nose agreed. Even though they all knew his real name was Eugene Fitzherbert they just couldn't help calling him Rider: it seemed to fit a thief better than his real name. Even though he now was the Prince Consort... It was a very complicated matter, actually, and they'd never thought about it seriously, so nobody knew exactly which was the right way to call him. For the rest of Corona he now only was Eugene Fitzherbert, while for them he still had two names.

The other thugs nodded, agreeing they couldn't le him do everything on his own. Their relationship with the former theif wasn't exactly what you'd call a friendship, but they were all so fond of the Princess that, just for her, they'd gotten along a bit better. There was like a silent agreement between them, they cooperated for Rapunzel's happiness, and that was as far as they could get. Now that she was in danger, and that reckless idiot of Eugene had decided he was going to save her, the thugs surely couldn't let him go on his own and get himself killed in the process, mostly because that would have made Rapunzel quite upset.

"It's all set, then. We'll leave as soon as Tor comes back with the horses." said Hook Hand. He had no clue if it was going to be an easy quest and wether they were going to find the Princess, but they had to try, at least. After all, it was thanks to her that most of their dreams had come true: he'd finally managed to become a pianist, Big Nose had met the love of his life at the celebration for the return of the Lost Princess, Ulf was now the best-known mime in Corona, Fang's puppet shows were famous all over the capital...

He'd given the other thugs the chance to stay home, but it'd turned out that everyone wanted to help, so here they were. The news of the kidnapping had spread quickly, and almost everyone in Corona knew the Princess was missing. They'd organized a meeting as soon as possible, which had been at lunch time. They'd heard Eugene had set off a few hours earlier, and they surely would've followed him if he'd only bothered letting them know, but he'd probably been too concentrated on how to track down the kidnappers to think about anything else. And now they were ready to race to the rescue for the second time, the first being when they'd helped him escape from jail. They'd spent a few days in the prisons for that, but then Rapunzel had convinced her father to release them, and they'd gotten the chance to pursue their dreams, obviously after dealing with all the surprises they'd found waiting for them, starting with Rapunzel being the Lost Princess.

"I have the horses!" said Tor as he burst into the room, letting the warm spring air come into the pub. He'd miracolously manged to convince some of his aquaitances to lend him their horses, using all of his persuasive powers (which weren't all that reliable). Maybe people trusted him because florists usually are very calm and responsable men. If that was the case, they were terribly wrong. Not that he wasn't going to return the horses. No, he just didn't know in which conditions they'd go back to their rightful owners. But that wasn't the time to worry about such a negligible detail.

"Very well. Let's go!" said Hook Hand as he walked out of the pub. Outside the Snuggly Duckling there were about fifteen horses, which were just enough for them. They were mostly packhorses, not very used to running, but it wasn't like they could've asked the King for his finest horses. The ones in front of them would do just fine. Plus, them being used to carrying heavy things, making Vladamir or the Pirate ride them wouldn't be a problem. The Innkeeper locked the pub door, and they settled for the trip, hoping they'd find Eugene and Rapunzel, possibly without breaking their necks.

...

They'd spent the whole day looking for even a small, almost imperceptible, trace of Rapunzel, but they'd found none. Luck seemed to have turned its back to them, but they went on anyway, without losing hope. Eugene led Max through the forest at a really slow pace, so that he could look for the Princess's scent. The horse's nostrils were sunk in the short grass, as if he were a hound. Eugene had guessed that Max had probably tracked him down the same way, back when his name was Flynn Rider. It all seemed so distant... He'd have never even imagined for something like what had happened during the past year to become reality, but since he'd met Rapunzel, his whole life had suffered a brusque change, one that he grew every day more happy of. But, of course, what's the fun in living a quiet life? He should've know that something was coming, especially since he'd started feeling observed, during the previous weeks. Then he remembered the strange feeling he'd had in the gardens with Rapunzel, and cursed himself for not having taken his instincts seriously. Maybe they would all be home, if he uadn't joked about his sixth sense.

They'd spent the whole day like that, sifting the forest, and they were really tired, but none of them wanted to be the first to suggest to get some rest, being afraid to be considered weak by the other two. Pascal was curled up on Max's head and kept his eyes open to check for anything his companions might've overlooked.

The sun was about to set, and the forest got darker minute by minute. Surely, the scarse illumination wasn't helping. Eugene shook his head, hoping to shake off all his fatigue as well. Unfortunately, it didn't work. They went on for another few minutes, then Eugene decided it was no use "Why don't we set camp for the night and continue tomorrow? We need to get some rest, otherwise we'll collpase very soon." he said, hoping Max wasn't going to disagree. The last thing he wanted was to start arguing. Fortunately, no one had anything to object, and they stopped in a clearing. Eugene jumped off Max and stretched his legs, wich felt so numb he could've fallen to the ground any moment. And that was exactly what happened a few seconds later.

"Wow, I can't even get back on my feet" he realized, his face half buried in the grass and his voice deformed by the way his nose was pressed against the ground. Max made a sound that was very similar to a laugh, and Eugene shot him a killing glance. Which was very hard, given his position, but he managed anyway.

"You'll pay for this. As soon as I get back the use of my legs" he threatened. Pascal started laughing as well, and Eugene wondered why he hadn't left him home, where he couldn't bother him. But, he had to admit, he'd started liking the little creature, although he still couldn't forget how that long toad-like toungue felt in his ear.

"Stop laughing at me and help me up!" Eugene ordered, cracking a smile. The other two went on laughing and soon Eugene joined them, his laugh distorted as much as his voice.

"Fine, maybe it is a bit ridiculous, but if you want to eat something you need me to go get some berries!" he said at last. Max shook his head glancing to the satchel attached to his saddle. Pascal somehow managed to open it up and found a few apples, a slice or two of bread and some water. If Eugene had known about the satchel at lunch time he'd have avoided eating all the berries he'd managed to pick up while riding Max.

"You could've told us earlier" was his only comment berfore he realized he finally had the strenghth needed to sit up against a huge rock. It was a true relief to finally get to speak without all that grass tickling his nose. They ate quietly and then went to sleep. Eugene looked up at the moon, a lot of questions filling up his mind. He told himself Rapunzel was going to answer most of them as soon as he found her. Because, no matter how long it would take, he would find her. So he just had to answer one of them on his own: where was the Princess?

...

Locked up in her new tower, Rapunzel couldn't get any sleep. Maybe it was because the floor was so hard, or because she had too many things on her mind. She kept looking out the window, at the moon. It was a beautiful sight, and she wished she could've been admiring it from her terrace. She and Eugene had watched the stars so many times from that place...

For the first time since she'd woken up in the tower, she wondered how her parents were feeling. Surely it mustn't have been easy for them: losing their daughter, finding her and then losing her again. She felt guilty for having dedicated to them such a little space of her mind. After all, they were her parents, no matter how many things she had to worry about. She glanced one last time at the moon, before leaving the window.

She sighed and got back on the floor, trying to nod off. She told herself she was going to be completely unable to think, the next day, if she didn't get a good night's sleep. That helped somehow, or maybe it was just the late hour that suddenly made her sleepy. The floor was incredibly cold and hard, so she imagined to be lying in the forest, bringing up memories of her journey to see the lanterns with Eugene. She couldn't believe her nineteenth birthday had ben just two days earlier. It already seemed so far away... Everything had been just perfect, and now here she was. But she wasn't going to be a prisoner for much longer, she was sure of it. She was going to get out of that tower before Conall came to visit her again. She just didn't know how, yet.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I agree with Umbre0n, it does pay to be nice. I don't think Jean would've even thought about helping Rapunzel escape if the Princess had been one of those royals who expect to be treated as if the whole universe belongs to them and think everyone must serve them tirelessly.**

**Anyways, here is chapter eight, and thanks to FloralSummer and Umbre0n for reviewing :D**

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In the opposite wing of the palace, Jean was getting ready in the most silent of ways for the greatest adventure of her life, the one she'd been dreaming of since she was a little kid. She packed her few things, making sure not to be heard. She'd decided she was going to run away that night, she couldn't wait any longer: it would just make things worse. Her room was now completely empty (not that it had been full of her stuff, earlier, since she owned almost nothing) except for the keys that she'd left on her bedside table. She'd forced herself not to look at them for the whole time, but she kept thinking about the Princess anyway. Thanks to those keys she could've freed the Princess once and for all, bringing her back to the capital and letting her live her life, the one she deserved. But it was too risky. Climbing the tower and convincing Rapunzel she could trust her, then going back down.. That would've made her lose a lot of time. Without considering that Rapunzel would probably slow her down... No, it was insane. There was no way she could help the Princess escape. The thief would come and save her, sooner or later, so why bother?

She kept telling herself Rapunzel would surely get out of there in a couple of days, but she knew there was no way the Prince Consort could've ever found her so easily. The castle was really well hidden in the forest, covered by old ivy branches, that camouflaged it perfectly. True, it was way higher than most trees, but you'd have to climb one to spot it. And, even if he managed to get in, which already was nearly impossible, then he'd have to get out without bumping into the guards, which was unthinkable.

Jean sighed and sat on her bed, trying to come up with a possible solution which didn't involve her. Maybe she could pay one of the servants to free the Princess... She almost laughed at how ridiculous that idea was. Not only nobody would agree, given the risks, but everybody in that place hated her, so she was probably just going to get herself hanged for betrayal.

She spent another few minutes wrecking her brain in the attempt to come up with a plan, but she just saw no way out. Except for the one she didn't want to see. The only possible way to get the Princess out of there, in fact, was to bring her along in her escape. It wasn't a carzy idea, it was insane, and they probably were going to get caught sooner or later, but she knew that if she didn't at least give it a shot then she'd have to live feeling guilty the rest of her life. She hated when her conscience tortured her like that, screaming what was the right thing to do. What her conscience didn't ever think about was what she wanted to do, what her plans were. Nope, as long as she did the right thing everything was fine. Jean thought about it for another couple of minutes, still sitting on her bed. Finally, she made up her mind, once and for all.

She had kidnapped the Princess, and it was her fault if she was now locked in the tower, but this was her one chance to get things right, and she wasn't going to waste it. She was going to help the Princess escape, that night, because she didn't deserve to be locked up there forever, without a decent reason. There'd be time to think about all the possible concequences. Now she had to climb up a tower in the shortest time possible. She grabbed her satchel and the keys she'd left on her bedside table and left the room, running soundlessly through the corridors that led to the West wing.

_I hope this satisfies you, _she told her consience, even though she knew that she wasn't doing it because she'd been ordered to, but because she wanted to help and do the right thing, for once.

...

"Wake up" someone whispered in her ear. Rapunzel opened her big green eyes and looked at the hooded figure that was kneeling beside her. At first she thought she was dreaming, then she realized her bones ached too much for it to be a dream, even though she hadn't slept a lot. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but the figure placed a hand over it and took off her hood. At first, Rapunzel couldn't make out the face that was just inches from hers, but then she realized it was Jean, her sharp features outlined by the moonlight that came through the window.

"We're getting out of here" she said as she helped her up. Rapunzel didn't ask any questions, not because she didn't have any, but bacause she was too confused to formulate them correctly. Soon, she decided she might as well trust her, since the only other option was staying in the tower, which she was very glad to leave. They silently left the room, closed the door behind them and started going down the stairs. Jean was nearly running, placing her feet as if she knew the path to follow by heart, but her footsteps were still so light you could barely hear them in the calm of the night.

Rapunzel went as fast as she could, but it wasn't easy, since everything was pitch black. She had to check where the steps were before she could move on to the next one, and she also had to try making the least sound possible, since it didn't come as naturally as it did for Jean. Jean noticed how unsure she was and took her hand. The stairs were broad enough for them to procede side by side, and that was exactly what they did, as Jean became Rapunzel's eyes and guided her down the stairs. When they finally reached the bottom, Rapunzel sighed with relief and Jean glanced down the corridor, checking for any guards. There should've been none, but better careful than sorry, so she waited a few seconds and listened carefully. When she heard absolutely nothing apart from her breathig and Rapunzel's, they proceeded.

Rapunzel would've liked to know where they were going, but she knew it was better for her to be quiet and hold tightly Jean's hand, if she wanted to escape. Jean, on her side, was surprised by how easily the Princess had trusted her, not asking even one question. Things were going better than she'd expected, and that gave her a little bit of extra optimisim, which she was glad for. They kept running through the dark corridors, with only the moonlight to light their path for a few minutes. Then a huge door came into view, and Jean directed herself and Rapunzel towards it. She opened it silently, making sure the old joints didn't creak. Fortunately, Conall had never asked his men to lock all the rooms at night, otherwise she'd have had to steal a whole bunch of keys, not knowing which one opened the right door. Stealing just the keys to the tower had already been very hard, and she didn't even want to imagine how much trouble she would've had to go through to get the whole stash.

They found themselves in a living room. Rapunzel couldn't figure out why they'd come there. There seemed to be nothing special about it. Maybe she just couldn't see it, so she strated analyzing the room. Even in the dim light, she noticed how a thick layer of dust covered everything. It was well furnished, even though he sofas and the armchairs were covered by white bed sheets. Several shelves covered the walls, making her guess this once was a reading room. Not as big as a library, but still a place where lots of books were gathered. She wondered how Jean had discovered that room and why nodoby ever used it. Everything about it looked just fine, and there also was a big fireplace, in the middle of the southern wall. Jean walked towards it, making Rapunzel very confused.

She pulled one of the books that were lined up on a nearby shelf. The only one that wasn't covered in dust. There was a sound of shifting bricks, and suddenly the wall behind the fireplace disappeared, showing a long dark tunnel. Rapunzel's eyes widened and her mouth fell open, but she quickly got hold of herself and followed Jean into the secret passage. It was filled with cobwebs and dust, and it was really chilly, but she surely wasn't going to complain for such little things. Jean seemed to know exactly where they were going, and Rapunzel hoped for her to be right, otherwise they could've also exited the passage in Conall's room. A chill ran down her spine at that thought. There was no way she was going back to the tower, ever. Maybe it was a bit too soon to be so sure they'd make it out of the palace, but she just couldn't help being optimistic, it was in her blood, and it usually helped her a lot when times got hard. True, sometimes she lost hope as well, but that had happened just one time, if she remembered right: when Gothel had stabbed Eugene. That scene kept popping into her mind when she least expected it, and she'd started fearing she'd never get rid of it. She shook her head and focused on the present, since the past would surely be of no help to their escape.

Jean kept holding Rapunzel's hand, since she feared she was going to hit her head or something if she stopped guiding her. She didn't think of the Princess as a little kid who'd never lived through anything dangerous; she just knew that in the dark she had a much better sight than anyone she'd ever met, and she expected the Princess to be as blind as other people were whenever there was no light.

She had memorized the path she had to follow to get out in the forest a lot of time before, and now her feet went on their own, turning left where there was a pile of white rocks in the corner, and going on straight until she saw a wooden case blocking her path. Rapunzel followed as they went zigzaging throught that maze of underground tunnels. Jean was silent and seemed to be sure of herself, so she didn't say anything, trusting her ability to orientate herself.

Finally, a slight breeze started filling the small tunnel they were walking, and they both sped up their pace, until they were almost running. Then they saw a small bright dot and ran for real, hoping for it to be the moonlight, and not candle light in some room of the castle.

At last, they were out of the palace walls, to never go back in again, hopefully. Rapunzel took a deep breath, filling her lungs with fresh air, after all the time they'd spent in the tunnels. It felt incredibly good to be free again, and she would've started jumping and running around if she hadn't known they weren't safe yet.

"We better get going. We don't want the guards to find us right away." said Jean as she went deeper into the forest. Even though her voice didn't show all that enthusiasm, Rapunzel was sure she was at least as happy as her to be free. She nodded in agreement and quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: As usual, thank for the reviews, the follows, and the favs. It all really makes me happy :D**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

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Conall kept pacing back and forth, his eyes flaming as they only did when something was terribly wrong. And, well, the Princess running away during the night was classified as code red. He'd found out about the Princess's disappearence a few minutes earlier, when he'd climbed up the tower to check if the night had gave her advice, and she now felt more cooperative. He'd found the door open and the room completely empty. He cursed himself for not having chained the Princess and put guards all over the West wing. He'd thought there would be no need to worry, since Rapunzel was a woman, and women usually weren't smart or brave enough to plan an escape. He'd have never imagined that the Princess would prove him wrong.

Conall wondered where Rapunzel might've been. She might've been hiding in the woods, or maybe her accomplice knew how to get to Corona. He was sure she had an accomplice, because there was no way she could've gotten out of the palace on her own. He was having the whole personnel checked for someone missing, because the traitor had probably ran away with the Princess.

He'd also sent Leonard looking for Jean, since he planned to send her after the fugitives. He stopped for a second and looked out the window, admiring his forest. He'd spent so much time exploring it, back when he was a kid... He and his mother used to live in a nearby village, the same Gothel used to live in. His mother would spend the whole day working at the old witch's mansion, and he'd set off as soon as he woke up for a new adventure in the woods. When he came back home, for supper, he would tell his mother all the things he'd done, and she'd smile, saying that once he grew up he would become an explorer. He'd always liked the sound of that, but he guessed having his own palace wasn't so bad, especially since he hadn't had to pay for it.

In fact, he'd come across it during one of his adventures in the forest, and at first he'd guessed it was some sort of summer residence for some duke. But as time passed and no one ever showed up, he'd started thinking the place might be abandoned. So one day he'd gathered up all his courage and knocked on the door: maybe someone lived there, even if the windows were always closed and the walls were covered by ivy plants. Surprisingly, he'd found the door open and, after having thought about it for a few minutes, he'd decided he might as well explore the palace. From that day on, it had been as if he owned the place, and he'd decided to go live there after his mother's death.

"Master.." said a shy voice. Conall spun abruptly to face Leonard. His sixteen-year-old servant was standing in the doorway, and his face told he wasn't bearing any good news.

"What is it?" he asked, annoyed. He hated when people interrupted his thoughts, even when they did so just to report after having carried out his orders.

"I can't find Jean" Leonard finally found the courage to answer. He braced himself for Conall's reaction, knowing what his Master was like.

"What do you mean you can't find her?" he yelled. Leonard could've sworn he saw smoke coming out of his nostrils.

"She's n-nowhere to be f-found, M-Master" he stammered. Conall started swearing under his breath, while his hands looked for something heavy to throw.

"Get out of here!" he shouted, throwing a huge book after the poor boy "And tell the captain to get his best men ready!" he added.

Leonard knew why Conall had given such orders: the fact that Jean was gone could've only meant that she'd helped the Princess escape. And that if Conall found her, she was going to be hanged for betrayal.

The thought of Jean being hanged made Leonard feel sick. She was like an older sister to him, the only one in the palace who didn't treat him as if he wasn't worth anything just because of his young age. Jean never forgot to tell him that someday he'll show the world what great things he was capable of. She didn't deserve to be hanged, he kept repeating inside his brain as he walked down the halls. He just hoped she and the Princess already were near Corona, and for just one second, he let himself be angry at Jean for not bringing him along. But then the moment passed, and he went back to praying she'd make it to the capital before getting caught.

...

Pascal positioned himself on Eugene's shoulder and stuck out his long tongue, centering perfectly Eugene's ear. The Prince Consort opened his eyes, horrified, and shook off the chameleon.

"Why do you keep doing that?" he asked, still disgusted, as he sat up "Can't you wake me up in some other way? Anything would be better than having you lick my brain!"

Pascal shrugged and smiled apologetically, even though he wasn't sorry at all. Waking up Eugene like that was too much fun for him to even try to stop it and find another effective method.

"Oh, no, don't look at me like that, little devil! I'm not going to forgive you, this time" said Eugene as he brushed his face with his hands.

"Where's Max?" he asked. Pascal pointed towards the trees behind them and, after having managed to get himself on his feet, Eugene went in that direction, wondering why Max had left them. Never splitting up was some kind of unspoken rule, among them, and he knew that Max would only break it if there was a really important reason to do so. He went on without even worrying about the chameleon, who was running behind him. After a few minutes of Pascal trying desperately to keep up pace with him, Eugene finally decided he could let him climb onto his shoulder, much to the little lizard's relief.

"I'm doing this just because seeing you dead of exhaustion would break Rapunzel's heart" he specified, as he kept walking, glancing at the panting Pascal that was now resting on his shoulder. He was even too tired to shoot Eugene a killing glance. The Prince Consort moved aside a couple of very leafy branches and and found himself looking at Max's long white tail. The horse was drinking from a small stream that was right in front of him.

"How did you find this?" he asked as he went near the horse, kneeled, and splashed some fresh water in his face. That woke him up once and for all, and also gave him some extra energy. Max, as an answer to his question, pointed to his ears, before sinking his nose in the water again. That horse truly must've had some super powers if he'd heard the sound of such a small stream of water from where they'd spent the night.

"Huh" was his sole comment, before he gathered some water in his cupped hands and started drinking. Even Pascal, who was slowly recovering his lost energies, slided down Eugene's arm, with the intent of falling onto the soft grass, but, at the last moment, his slide moved, and he ended up in the stream. After some moments of pure panic, he managed to hook his little paws onto the bank, and somehow hauled himself up, only to find Eugene smirking at him.

"That's for how you woke me up" he explained, grinning "Now we're even". Max was laughing as well, and Eugene was glad for that. Those moments of amusment helped him take his mind off Rapunzel being locked up somewhere. He just hoped they'd find her soon, because he didn't know for how long he could've carried on like that. He sighed, wondering what his wife might be thinking about right then nad how she was feeling. Pascal noticed how his face had darkened and placed one of his small paws on his hand, in the attempt to comfort him a bit. Eugene smiled at him gratefully, but then his expression changed. He suddenly looked to be on his guard, ready to react to the slightest movement. He'd heard something, just as Max had. Someone was hiding near the stream.

Eugene silently stood and turned around, checking the whole area for any movement. everything was quiet, and for a moment he thought he might've imagined it. But then a bush shifted, and he had the proof he'd heard right, a few moments earlier. Not having any better ideas, he asked out loud "Who's there?"

There was no answer, and he moved colser to the bush, carefully watching his step, making the least sound possible. He stopped, "Who's there?" he asked again "Come out!". Again, there was no answer, but the bush moved once more, and Shorty came out of it. He fell onto the ground, since he wasn't really able of controlling his own muscles.

"Shorty?" Eugene was taken aback by the thug's appearence, and thought he might be hallucinating.

"Yes, sir, that's my name" he answered, still lying on the ground. The Prince Consort's mouth hung open for a few seconds, then he asked "What are you doing here? Are the others with you?" he usually wouldn't have been all that happy to see the thugs, but right then they meant more chances to save Rapunzel.

"We're going to save the Princess!" replied Shorty, but Eugene wasn't really listening, since he wasn't expecting an answer that actually made sense. When his brain registered Shorty's words, he nearly jumped "You're here to save the Princess? This is the best news I've had since I woke up yesterday!"

He spun around to face two really excited Pascal and Max, who had obviously done the maths: reinforcements were near! Max dug his muzzle in the grass once again, ready to follow the thug's scent. He zigzaged for a few seconds, before he finally found a path, and followed it speedily, as Eugene grabbed both Shorty and Pascal and followed. He was so excited that he didn't even wonder how the thugs would greet him, which he usually did every time Rapunzel planned a visit to the Snuggly Duckling.

After a few minutes, they started hearing voices. Known ones.

"Where the hell did Shorty go?" said Hook Hand. Eugene started running, and just before he slammed into Valadamir's back, he stopped and announced "I found him!"

Everybody turned to face him, and several mouths fell to the ground, as no one really managed to believe their eyes. He stood there, grinning, Max at his side, Shorty on one shoulder and Pascal on the other. It was a question of seconds before his grin faded, when Hook Hand grabbed his ankle and held him upside down. He sould've expected that, since it was the way most of their conversations started.

"What the hell were you thinking, Rider?" the thug asked, furrowing his brow.

"Huh?" the rush of blood to his head must've slowed down his brain, since he was struggling to understand what that was all about.

"You set off without telling us!" Hook Hand explained.

"Oh.. Sorry?" he tried smiling apologetically, but apparently it didn't work.

"Gah, you're a lost cause" Hook Hand released his ankle and he dropped to the ground, hitting the grass hard for the second time during that journey.

"You came to help or to make sure I broke my nose?" asked Eugene sarcastically as he got up, checking if his face was still in one peice. Fortunately, it was.

"Both" lughed Hook Hand, then he added "We thought you'd be far ahead of us!"

"I went really slow, so Max could find Rapunzel's scent" he explained. Hook Hand glanced at the horse, wondering how he could've ever managed to do a dog's job, and shrugged.

"You hungry? The Innkeeper's making breakfast" he said as he let the Prince Consort in their camp.

"Sounds good" nodded Eugene, following the thug.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Since the story will probably have 20 chapters, we're right in the middle of it. I'm not so sure about this chapter, but somehow Jean and Rapunzel had to get to know each other better. So, this is how it turned out. Hope you like it! :)**

**Also, thanks to lv4eva and RomanianPrincess for their reviews and to everyone for the follows and the favs, it's really awesome to see people like my story :D **

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Jean glanced behind her shoulder at Rapunzel, who obviously was very tired, but hadn't protested at all. They'd stopped just once, at dawn, to get some rest, since the night before, and it almost was lunchtime. She was truly impressed by the way the Princess had kept up with her rythm, since she'd have never imagined a member of the royal family would be so resistent, them being used to having all those servants. True, the Princess hadn't lived in the palace most of her life, since she'd been kidnapped when she was just a baby and the kingdom had almost lost hope in finding her, or at least that was what she'd heard. She wondered why so many people were intrested in her. Both whoever had sneaked into the castle of Corona years earlier and Conall had kidnapped her, but, to be honest, Jean didn't really know why. Conall had just said that he had a deal to discuss with the Princess, when he'd asked the reason behind her assignment, and she'd been ok with that very general answer, not wanting to pressure her boss, with the risk of making him angry. Only afterwards had she started questioning Conall's reasons, but never out loud, for the same reason she hadn't asked for more explanations earlier.

So, there she was, running away from Conall along with a Princess who seemed to be of intrest to many and whom she'd previously kidnapped without knowing exactly why she was doing so. She spun around to face Rapunzel and said "Why don't we stop and get some rest? I don't think it'll hurt"

"Yeah, that would be great" smiled Rapunzel, immadiatly sinking to the ground. She was exhausted, even though she'd done her best to hide it as long as she could. Jean sat down next to her and got some cheese and bread out of her bag, along with a handful of berries she'd picked up along the way.

"Do you think they'll find us?" Rapunzel asked, between a bite and the other.

"I hope not" replied Jean. then she explained what her idea of the situation was "We've been going south, towards Corona, since this morning, at about three AM. Conall will probably have noticed our absence by now, and his men surely are on our trail. They have horses, but we have at least a seven-hour advantage. I don't know if we'll make it, but the sooner we get back traveling, the sooner we reach the capital". Rapunzel nodded, it made perfect sense.

"Sorry for slowing you down" she apologized afterwards, having noticed how tireless Jean was. Since they hadn't talked all that much during their journey, she'd had plenty of time to wonder how she'd become so trained. She hadn't come up with a really good theory, though.

"Don't worry about it, you're actually way better than I'd have expected" Jean reassured her. There were a few moments of silence, then she decided it was time to find out what made the Princess so special.

"Why did Conall want you locked in that tower?" she asked, hoping the Princess would answer her question.

"Oh, it's.. it's a long story" she mumbled, trying to decide if she could trust Jean with her secret or not. After all, that woman had saved her from a life in the tower, so she did kind of have the right to know what made her help necessary.

"I can trust you, right?" she asked, before she made up her mind. When Jean nodded, she made her choice and took a deep breath, getting ready to tell the story of her life for the third time, after having told it to Eugene and her parents.

She told Jean everything: from how the flower had saved the Queen while she was pregnant with her to how Gothel had locked her up in the tower to make sure she'd be the only one able to use the magic that was imprisoned in her hair; from her dream to see the lanterns to how Eugene had made it come true, almost paying the price with his life, and how her last drop of magic had healed him, giving them the chance to live 'happily ever after'. Jean listened without interrupting, as every word made her want to sink deep under the ground and disappear, along with all her shame. She wished she'd never asked to explain Rapunzel why she was so precious to Conall, so that she wouldn't be feeling so despicable. Rapunzel had trusted her with her most guarded secret, while she'd been lying to her since she'd opened the door of the tower the day before (in other words, from the moment she'd met her).

When Rapunzel finished telling her story, Jean truly had no idea what to say. That she was sorry for all that had happened to her? It would just make her even more hypocrite than she already was. So she placed her hand above the Princess's, in the attempt to comfort her. Then she gathered up all her courage and got ready, because her turn in that sort of stroy-telling game her question had set in motion was about to come.

"You know, I have something to tell you as well" she begun, hoping she wouldn't regret it. She paused for a moment, then went on " The story I told you in the tower.. It's not the whole version. It's true, I did become one of Conall's servants, the only woman, that is, but things have changed between when I arrived and now"

"What do you mean?" Rapunzel was really confused. She didn't understand what Jean meant, but she hoped it wasn't something bad. Even at the castle, she'd never really had a real friend, and she'd started seeing Jean as one. She admired her courage and how independent she was, even though she wasn't all that powerful.

"I'm not a servant." Jean explained, before she begun telling the part of her story that she'd kept hidden from the Princess "One day, I was practicing with my bow in the gardens, during one of the rare free moments I managed to spare for myself, and Conall saw me. He asked me where had I learnt to use a bow, and asked me to do some simple excercises. After that, he thought he might as well give me the chance to see if I could manage being in his troops. That's how my soldier career begun. At first, all other soldiers made fun of me, because I'm a woman, but soon Conall assigned me a higher rank, and his men begun hating me. To them the idea of a woman trying to get high in the army ranks was a total utopia, and they couldn't stand it." she said. She paused for a moment, and when she saw Rapunzel was about to speak she interrupted her "It's not over, yet. I kept on getting to higher and higher ranks, and, to tell you the truth, I didn't even really care. I didn't like Conall's men: the only thing they seemed to be good at was hating on me, without even bothering to prove they were worth more than I was. The highest rank I could get to was becoming Conall's most trusted captain, but I somehow managed to get higher even than that. I became his most trusted spy. That happened a few months ago, and my first mission was..." she paused and took a breath,bthe hard part was coming "It was to spy on you. To see what you ususally did, and what your life was like. To learn which rooms of the castle you visited more frequently and where they were situated. I didn't even know why exactly I was doing it, I just knew I had to follow the orders. And so I did, until Conall said it was time to get ready to kidnap you. I thought 'Fine, I'll do this and then run away in the woods, leaving all of this behind me'. So the other night I sneaked into the castle and hit both you and your husband with a frying pan I found in your bedroom, to make sure neither of you woke up, and brought you to Caonall's palace. It's my fault if all of this happened. And then I decided I'd look after you, in the attempt to fix things a bit. But it didn't work, and I realized the only way to get things even was to make you escape." she paused again, but this time Rapunzel didn't move at all, her eyes fixed on her, while all of that sank in.

"I'm sorry. For everything. For spying on you, for kidnapping you, and for telling you a bunch of lies. I thought Conall would've freed you soon, or that's what I told myself, so that I wouldn't feel too guilty. But, it didn't work, so here we are. I'm sorry.." she said, and her voice was as sincere as Rapunzel had never heard it before. But, she didn't know what to believe anymore. By making her escape, Jean had proven to be a valuable ally, and maybe a friend as well, but it was her fault if she wasn't at the castle with Eugene right then. Plus, this might be another lie, some sort of wicked plan Conall had come up with. She really didn't know what to expect from that man: he seemed pleased whenever he noticed one's world was crumbling around him. even though Jean's words seemed to be coming from her heart, how could she trust her, now that she knew what her role had been for all that time?

Rapunzel rubbed a hand across her forehead, in the desperate attempt to put all the thigs swirling around in her brain in some sort of order. Obviously, it didn't work, and she wondered why the human brain had to be such a mess most of the time. She closed her eyes, and thought for a few seconds, then she said "Jean, I trust you. You got me out of that tower, and I doubt you did that because Conall asked you to do so. This means you don't like following his orders, and you probably did what you had to just because you saw no other way out. You were brave enough to accept your errors and try to make thigs right, and that is a really difficult thing to do. I told you my story, and I don't regret it, because I think you'll keep the secret. I think I can trust you. And not just because you got me out of that tower, but because of the way you did it, careless of the concequences as only a person who's following her heart can be. I know I probably sound like an old granny who's trying to read your soul and, possibly, give you life lessons, but what I'm actually trying to say is:'I forgive you'" she smiled warmly. Jean couldn't believe her ears "But.."

"You did the right thing, in the end, and that's enough" said the Princess, not admitting a reply. Jean smiled as well, since she didn't know how to thank her. She'd have expected anything, any reaction, but the one the Princess had had. She didn't know how she managed to forgive her, after all she'd done, but she knew she'd never stop owing her for that.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Again, didn't have all that time to double-check this chapter, sorry. Hope you like it anyway :)**

**Enjoy!**

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As she gathered their few things, Rapunzel kept thinking she'd done the right thing. Both about telling Jean her secret and forgiving her. If Eugene had been there, he probably would've suggested to hit Jean with her frying pan and run away, just to make sure she wasn't going to know how to follow her. But, from that point of view, they were very different: she trusted people, even after all that had happened with Gothel, while Eugene usually was very suspicious, and you had to earn his trust. It usually took him a lot of time to trust someone, but that was just how he was: a hundred walls of distrust to go through, but when you managed to pass them all, the he would've even put his life in your hands. Rapunzel assumed it was because of his childhood at the orphanage, but she couldn't be so sure, since she knew nearly nothing about his past. At first she'd tried to make him talk a little, but when she'd noticed how his face darkened every time, she'd stopped asking. One day, when he'd be ready, he'd share his story with her, but for now she was happy with the few things she knew.

"Princess, we should get going" said Jean. She knew she should've addressed her as 'Your Highness', but she kept forgetting it. She'd gotten used to considering Rapunzel as her equal, after all that had happened. Fortunately, she didn't seem to mind her lack of respect. Actually, she seemed glad she wasn't so formal.

"Please, call me Rapunzel" she replied, ready to go.

"Alright.." Jean was a bit perplexed. Not only she didn't care if she forgot what her title was, but she also wanted her to call her by name! She'd have never expected a Princess to be so... Friendly. As if that whole rank matter wasn't enough, Jean still couldn't believe the turn events had taken. She'd expected the Princess to do anything (you never know, with royals, even though Rapunzel had proved to be quite peculiar already) except what she'd done. She'd seemed to understand that she was working with Conall against her will (even if it could've looked like a rather weak excuse), something that only one person had ever done, and that was probably because he had the same reasons. Leonard, in fact, her only friend back at the palace, was working there just because Conall was the only one near his village who would hire such a young guy, and Leonard needed the money for his family. His father had died a few months earlier, and he'd have left and would have become a thief if it hadn't been for his little brother, Thomas. He was just four years old, and his mother already worked really hard to bring home some money, but if they wanted to live decently they needed another salary, which could only be provided by Leonard.

Jean smiled sadly, thinking that there were many others who had a similar story. Not working for Conall maybe, but still for same other powerful man. At the palace there weren't many people like that. The soldiers were mostly mercenaries, and the other servants were often vagabonds who had come across the palace and, not having anything better to do, they'd accept Conall's offer to work for him. They weren't so bad, after all, but the soldiers were a nightmare. They only cared about themselves, even when they were assigned teamwork: it didn't matter if one of them got killed, and everyone stuck to his role, as if help were forbidden. But when they got back to the place, in the evening, they got drunk together and had fun, as if they were longtime friends.

Jean and Rapunzel checked one last time if they'd left anything, which was highly unlikely, since they'd brought nearly nothing with them, but one of their priorities still was not to leave traces.

"Thank you" said Jean, as they started moving. She'd felt the need to say that, same way she felt she owed the Princess so much that she couldn't have even imagined how to pay her back.

"What for? I should thank you for getting me out of that tower." she replied. Jean was about to explain the whole load of things she had to thank her for, but she heard the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground. Knowing it was probably to late, she said "Run". She'd have yelled, but if they still wanted to have a chance to get away, then the last thing they needed was to be heard.

Rapunzel didn't need to be told twice. Her eyes big with fear, she started running after the former spy.

...

Caught. Right when she'd started hoping, they'd gotten caught. Jean should've known escaping Conall was an impossible task, but she'd started being optimistic anyway. Now she told herself that maybe, if they hadn't spent so much time talking about each other, they'd have had a chance to actually make it to Corona.

She and Rapunzel had their hands tied in front of them, so that the loose end of the rope could be attached to the saddle if one of the soldiers' horses. She glanced at Rapunzel in the attempt to read her expression, but the Princess had her face hidden by her short hair, her glance directed towards the ground, as if she were suddenly very interested in her feet. Jean sighed, wishing she could've let the Princess know how sorry she was. She'd hoped to be able to return her trust by bringing her home safely, and then disappearing forever. Apparently, she'd failed again. For the first time she asked herself what her father would think of her. He'd had such high hopes about her future.. And now here she was. A spy who was about to be hanged for trying to make up for her mistakes. How proud would _that_ make a father?

She sighed and glanced once again at the Princess, wondering what she was thinking right then.

If she'd been inside Rapunzel's brain, then she'd have probably know that right then she was analyzing their situation. Nothing was probably going to change for her, except maybe that Conall was going to treat her a bit worse, but she knew that for Jean things were about to get really rough: she didn't know what Conall's policy said about betrayal, but she wasn't expecting anything good. She was sorry for all the trouble she'd gotten into to make her escape, especially now that everything had been blown to ashes. They'd been so close.. She wondered how the soldiers had managed to track them down. She raised her head a few inches, instantly feeling dumb. Why hadn't she noticed the dogs earlier? If you added them to the picture the mystery was easily solved. She sighed, realizing they'd never had all those chances to actually manage to escape, given Conall's resources. They'd tried, and that was at least something. She wondered what Conall was going to say once he saw them. There was no way she could've avoided two days without food or water, at that point, always if Conall didn't change his mind and decide two days weren't enough for a fugitive. She closed her eyes and sighed, wishing she were still in the castle of Corona, with Eugene. Who knew where he was and what he was doing right then...

"Watch where you're going!" said a soldier when she bumped into his horse, not having payed attention at all to which path she was following, since she'd assumed there was no need for her to do so.

"Sorry" she replied in a whisper, brusquely brought back to reality. That's when she realized that Jean was already starting to pay for what she'd done: not one of the soldiers was skipping his turn to make fun of her. Now Rapunzel realized what she'd meant when she'd said that everyone hated her at the palace. Their escorts seemed to be really happy that she now officially was their enemy, so that hey could finally say out loud what they thought of her. She honestly couldn't understand why they had to be so mean. After her experience with the pub thugs and Eugene, she'd learnt that there's a little good in everyone, but these people were seriously pushing her to change her mind. She tried to block out their voices and concentrate on something else, which was probably the same thing Jean was doing, since she seemed completely impassible.

...

He'd seen everything. Greno had seen how the guards had captured Rapunzel and the other girl. He'd wanted to help, but he'd known they had no hope. If he'd come out and tried to get them to the camp they'd set up for lunch he'd have just gotten caught, possibly along with all the other thugs. He was running back to the camp, ready to report what he'd discovered. When they'd sent him scouting, he'd thought it was just a waste of time, but now he knew hat it was the exact opposite. The soldiers that had captured the Princess had just started moving, and they were headed north. He hoped they'd be able to follow them. It was the first concrete chance they had to free the Princess, and he was sure they weren't going to waste it. When he finally got to the camp, panting, he said "The Princess.. Soldiers.. Caught her.. Headed north.."

The others stopped doing whatever they were occupied wit to stare at him, wondering if he'd gone mad. Eugene had jumped up when he'd heard the word 'Princess'.

"Calm down and try to explain yourself." he said, gesturing for him to sit down. Greno did, as he took some deep breaths to recover all the oxygen he'd lost while running. When he thought he could manage to speak properly, he said "I saw the Princess. She's with another girl. They got caught, and the guards that took them are headed north. Start packing." it was a really synthetic speech, but the more time they lost sitting there while he explained, the more advantage they gave those soldiers. Everyone seemed to understand that, and the thugs started packing immediately. Only Eugene asked "How was Rapunzel? Was she hurt?"

"She seemed fine" answered Greno, getting up to help his companions.

"Good" Eugene was extremely relieved. He'd have wanted to ask so many questions, but Hook Hand told him "Everyone of us would want to hear a more precise story, but we don't have time to waste if we want to reach those guards."

Eugene nodded, understanding his point. In a few moments, the camp they'd so accurately set was gone, and everyone was one their horse, ready to set off. You could feel excitement and hope filling the air among the thugs and the former thief, now that they had a concrete lead.

"Find them, Max" said Eugene, as he led his horse north, where Greno had said the Princess was going. The other followed, waiting for the royal horse to pick up her scent.

After a few moments of tension, the horse raised his ears, surprised. He smelled again, and this time he neighed happily.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry for the short delay, but yesterday I was really tired and had a lot of things to do. Anyway, here's the chapter ;)**

**As usual, thanks for reviewing, following and faving(?) :D**

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Being quiet wasn't exactly something they were good at.

Nope, the thugs definitively weren't quiet guys, thought Eugene as he crouched behind a bush. Still, they were giving their best shot at it, hoping the ambush would go well. They'd decided the only way to free the Princess was to reach the guards and ambush them, since getting into the palace, wherever it was, would be more complicated and would have had less chances to work. They'd left their horses in a clearing and procedeed on foot, mindless of Max's protests, once they'd been close enough to the group to hear them talk. They'd anticipated them and were now waiting. Waiting for the guards to come, and fall right into their trap. A trap that, to be honest wasn't anything special: they would just jump out of their hiding places and use the surprise effect at their advantage. Eugene's heart started beating faster as he heard the small group approach. There were about a dozen guards, so they weren't going to outnumber them, and all of the guards were riding a horse, which was a problem. Eugene thought about Max, wondering how angry the horse was at him. He knew he'd wanted to come, but how could a horse hide between bushes? If the ambush was to work, then they didn't need any complications.

Eugene made a silent promise to buy him a whole bag of apples once they got back home, hoping they would be enough to earn his forgivness.

The voices grew louder and the Prince Consort glanced down at his frying pan. He'd come unarmed, and none of the thugs had been willing to give up hier weapons, so they'd let him choose the best he could find among the few spare metal objects they'd brought along. His eyes had brightened when he'd seen the frying pan, as he'd thught he'd found just the perfect object to defend himself with (even though an ambush was mostly about offense, but nevermind). Now he regretted not having chosen a weapon before he left the castle, and he justified himself with the fact that been too shocked to actually make an inventory of what he was going to need during his quest, which was true.

The frying pan would have to do, especially since they were about to put their plan into action. He heard the horses' hooves hitting the ground at a slow pace, and sharpened his hearing, ready for the signal, which wasn't late at all. He heard the whistle loud and clear, and jumped out of his hiding place, finding a horse to block his path. He didn't think about it twice, and hit the horse on the head. Both the surprise effect and the hit left the horse rather confused, and while his rider tried to steer him away from Eugene, the former thief hit him as well, making him fall to the ground. _One down, eleven to go_, he though. The thugs were fighting the rest of the troop, while the guards tried hopelessly to fend them off. Being on horseback wasn't an advantage, after all, since the animals had started freaking out and had become difficoult to control. Plus, the thugs were all quite tall, and they had no problems reaching up to hit the guards with their swords and truncheons. It was going far better than he'd have hoped for, it looked like they had a chance to pull it off!

Eugene would've analyzed the situation better, hadn't it been for the one thing that was on his mind: Rapunzel. They'd decided it would be his privilege to find the Princess and free her, so he left the others to take care of the guards and glanced around, trying to spot his wife. He couldn't find her, but he kept looking, moving around to check some hidden spots and refusing to believe that they'd gotten the wrong group of soldiers, while the thugs kept battling the guards, none of them intrested in him the slightest bit. That's when he heard a muffled scream. He started in the direction the scream had come from, and she finally came into view. Rapunzel was being dragged away by a guard, who pulled the rope that was tied around her wrists with one had, while with the other he pulled another girl's rope, which handcuffed her in the same way as the Princess. It looked like the soldier thought he was dealing with two subborn goats rather than two human beings. Eugene felt the urge to break his neck, but laid the issue aside, and took a good look at his wife, making sure she wasn't hurt. Fortunately, it didn't seem so.

"Rapunzel!" he called, as he sprinted towards her. He was so happy to see her! It felt like when he'd climbed the tower to save her from Gothel: seeing her had filled his heart with joy, but, at the same time, noticing she was tied up and held prisoner, had made it sink, and left him quite confused and stunned. This time he wasn't surprised at all, and he hoped that'd help him score a better result than the previous time.

The soldier saw him and, without missing a beat, unsheathed his sword, letting it gleam in the sunlight that filtered throught the thick foliage. Eugene stopped and replied by tightening the grip on his weapon, bringing back to his mind flashes of when he'd gotten the best of all those royal guards at the dam with Rapunzel's frying pan. They examined each other for a handful of seconds, then the guard jumped forward and tried to push his blade clean through Eugene's stomach, but he moved sideways just in time and blocked it with his frying pan. Rapunzel gasped, as she saw the combat develop, her mind replaying over and over how Gothel had stabbed him. She tried to ignore those thoughts and concentrated on hoping everything would go well, since there wasn't much else she could do.

The guard kept thrusting his sword at Eugene, but he kept avoiding it, moving quickly and trying to predict his opponent's next move. Knowing they couldn't go on dancing like that forever, Eugene streched his arm to the right and bent his wrist to hit the soldier's right temple, in the attempt to knock him out, but the guard ducked, avoiding the blow. The Prince Consort lost his balance and, while he was busy trying to get it back, the soldier got back up and thrust his sword to Eugene's left, knowing he would never be able to block it. The blade ripped through Eugene's clothes and bit his skin right under his ribs, just as he'd managed to steady himself. Rapunzel gasped again, and would have rushed to her husband's aid if she hadn't known that it would just make things worse. Eugene gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the pain, and made the mistake to glance down at his wound, to check how serious it was. The guard saw his chance to take him out and made a move to stab him in the guts.

Rapunzel read the look in the guard's eyes and cried "Eugene!", in the attempt to bring the Prince Consort's attention back to his opponent. Eugene turned instantly and saw the blade coming forward. He ralized it was too late. There was no way he could avoid that strike, but he still wasn't ready to surrender, so he jumped backwards, and heard the sound of a stone hitting metal. He was very confused, not knowning what had caused that sound, and saw the soldier was at least as clueless as him, his arm frozen in the middle of the blow that had been supposed to be Eugene's death. But while he wondered what had happened, the guard wondered who had made it happen: who had thrown a rock at him?! Eugene saw the other girl, her hands free from the rope that had been tying them, holding a couple of stones, and understood. She was on their side, and had just saved his life. She threw the rocks at the guard, and smiled slyly, trying to draw all his fury on herself. Eugene, who had guessed what her plan was, had to admit it was something very brave and mostly reckless, as most brave actions usually were. The guard, feeling outraged by how unrespectful his prisoner was, glanced back at the Prince Consort, deciding he wasn't going to go far, with all the soldiers ready to capture him and his wound, and concluded that he was going to take care of the girl first. Eugene looked at the girl in the eyes, silently thanking her, and she gave him a slight nod, her eyes shouting at him "Run!". Since her plan had worked quite well up to that point, he quickly undid the knot that held together Rapunzel's rope handcuffs and took her hand, as he begun to run back towards where he'd left the thugs. Just then his wound sent a pang of pain through his body. He cursed through gritted teeth, but kept going on, even if at a slower pace. Rapunzel noticed it and stopped him to ask, worried "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, Blondie, I'm fine. Just need a bandage, and then I'll be as good as new." he smiled, hoping she'd believe him. When her face remained dark, he added "I promise."

Rapunzel nodded, deciding arguing would be no use. She just hoped everything was really going to be alright. Sure, the wound seemed to be just superficial, but that wasn't a comforting thought as one might think. Eugene moved away a strand of hair from her forehead and said "Let's go. Your friend over there won't hold him for long."

He started jogging again and she followed, not without glancing back at Jean, who was trying to have the best in her match against the soldier, but was obviuosly disadvantaged. She knew she owed her not only her freedom, but her husband's life as well, and that she'd pay her back soon, too. Maybe even sooner than one would expect. The thougth of leaving her behind made Rapunzel feel a horrible person, but it wasn't like they had many other options. Right?

They reached the thugs and, as soon as Bruiser saw them, he whistled, signaling the retreat. The thugs stopped fighting the guards at once, and headed back into the woods, running towards the spot where they'd left their horses.

Behind them they left some really conused men, who hadn't understood what exactly had happened. Only when the guard that had fought Eugene came back with Jean, who was tied up once again (and alive only because Conall had specifically asked to make sure she came at the palace unharmed, so that he could attend her execution), announcing that those ruffians had taken the Princess, did the soldiers realize just how much trouble they were into.

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**Hope it was good :) I'm not very sure about the whole rock-diversion created by Jean, but I didn't have any better ideas.. As for the fight between Eugene and the guard, I did my best! **

**If you have any suggestions, let me know :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Chapter 13! Hope you like it :)**

**Thanks to Umbre0n, bubzchoc, Kristina and MakorraLove97 for reveiwing :D**

**Enjoy!**

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"What did you just say?"

Furios wasn't the right word to describe Conall's state. He was far more than that. He looked like he could've blown to dust the whole kingdom, and after that, all the kingdoms nearby, and so on, until nothing would be left standing, not even a brick in the farthest corner of the world.

The captain of the guards had never been so afraid of anyone or anything before. There was a little voice inside of him that kept telling him to run, but he stood still, his head low in shame, as Conall's rage flowed out of him.

"Would you mind answering my question?"

Conall was tapping his foot nervously, waiting for the captain to repeat the awful news he'd brought before he exploded completely. The captian tried muttering some apologies, and then said in a whisper "The Princess managed to escape us. We only have... the spy." He left out that they'd caught both of them at the beginning, but a band of ruffians had managed to rescue the Princess. It would just add more shame to what he already had accumulated.

"Let me get this straight," the man's voice was a lot calmer than what it had been just moments before, but the captain knew it wasn't going to last long, and that the storm had merely begun "Thirteen of my best-chosen soldiers couldn't manage to capture two women, of which only one had the skills required to do so, while the other was completely defenseless"

"I wouldn't say the Princess is completely defenseless, sir.." countered the captain, thinking about how she'd tried to take out a couple of soldiers with a fallen tree branch when they'd cornered her. Not that she'd accomplished much, but still...

"Are you saying that a teenage princess is all that it takes to stop you?" asked Conall, his voice growing louder at every word. He was already enormously angry, and he couldn't understand why that idiot of the captain wanted to annoy him as well. He couldn't believe his men had failed to accomplish such an easy task as capturing two ladies. And that was without considering Jean. She had betrayed him, after he'd made of her his right hand! Oh, she would get her share of consideration, sure enough, but right now he had other issues to deal with.

"No, master." whispered the captain. His last comment had no doubt been an unhappy one. He would've done much better to keep his mouth shut. He just hoped the meeting would be ending soon, so that he could go in the kitchen and get some drink to make him feel better.

"Very well. Now, would you mind explaining how exactly this incident happened?" he asked in a calm voice, that was a poor mask to all the rage that boiled inside him. Rage towards the Princess, towards the soldiers, towards Jean, towards the universe itself. A rage that he masked just because he knew that if he wanted to get a decent version of the facts, then he'd better not freak out the captain more than he'd already done.

"Of course, master" the man replied. Then he took a few seconds to choose his words carefully, since he'd better be sincere and tell the whole story, without skipping the ambush. Giving general information was one thing, and he could've manage to hide their failure to take out those ruffians, but once Conall asked for a detailed story, there was no way you could hide something from him. He saw it in your eyes, no matter what a good liar you were, and he spotted everything you said that didn't perfectly match with the truth.

"We were in the forest, running south, towards Corona, since that was most likely the fugitives' destination, when we found them. The Princess and Jean were running away from us with all their strength, but it took us nothing to catch up and corner them. In a few minutes we had them both tied up and started riding back towards the palace. We went at pace, because the prisoners had to go on foot, and they couldn't have kept up otherwise."

Conall interrupted him "Why didn't you put them on your horses?" He couldn't see the logic behind that unnecessary slowing down so the prisones could walk. Why not just let them ride on one of their horses along with them?

"We thought it wasn't quite the right way to handle prisoners. They didn't deserve to be comfortable.." said the captian, lowering his head even more.

"Comfortable? Who cares about comfortable, you idiot! You could've gone twice as fast with them riding instead of walking!" he shouted, so the message would be recieved loud and clear. He still didn't know how such dumb men managed to be his elite soldiers. What had he done wrong to deserve this?

"I apologize, master. I didn't think about that" the captain whispered. He didn't want to think about what Conall's reaction would be once he learnt what came next.

"Of course you didn't. You never think! Now, go on!" he slumped back in his chair and waited for the man standing in front of him to continue.

"Everything went well, at first, but then a band of ruffians ambushed us, and.. They managed to free the Princess." he finished. He braced for his master's reaction, which came just in time.

"A band of ruffians? You let a band of ruffians ambush you and take the Princess?" his anger rose again, and his face became slightly red. "You are supposed to be able to fend off a whole army! And you let a band of ruffians have the better of you?"

"They were all quite big, master" said the captain, trying to excuse their failure.

"I wouldn't care less if they were built out of stone, you'd still have to find a way to get rid of them!" Conall exploded. The captain wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, and find shelter in a drink. He wanted something strong, to make him forget all his troubles.

"Sorry, master" he whispered.

"Enough of your apologies! Get out of here!" he shouted, picking up a book. The captain didn't need to be told twice, and scurried away as fast as he could. Which, apparently, wasn't fast enough, because Conall still managed to throw the book he'd picked up after him, adding "And make sure you don't come back until you have good news!"

_I would like to never come back at all._. Thought the captain as he headed towards the kitchens, after telling himself that he should've seen the book coming, since Conall had the bad habit of trowing things around when he was angry.

...

Jean had had enough time to imagine any possible scenario for what her meeting with Conall was going to be like - she was sure he was going to visit her, sooner or later (most likely sooner) - when he came into the tower. He'd locked her up there because it was the safest place to hold someone prisoner in the whole palace, and just to be even safer, he'd chained her to the wall. The heavy metal chains were attached at her wrists and ankles, and by then they'd started biting her skin, even though she hadn't tried once to get rid of them. She was sitting on the floor, and had she been someone else, she'd have probably been feeling miserable right then, but her eyes still had that brave glare they'd never lose, not under any circumstances.

"Well, well, well.. Here is my favorite backstabber!" Conall said as soon as he saw her. He wasn't expecting any reply from Jean, and when she said nothing, he went on "I was wondering, how does it feel to betray the man who has done so much for you? Is it good? I bet you feel proud of yourself, you think you've done something good.."

This time, Jean raised slightly her head and gave him a sly smile "I do feel quite good, actually. I freed an innocent" saying so, she felt even better. She'd dremed about talking openly to Conall so much, and now that she was finally able to do that, she was satisfied with herself. For the first time after she'd come to the palace, she felt free. Free to express what she thought, and to choose her own path. _A path that now leads to death.._ Said the rational part of her brain. But she didn't listen, she wanted to savor that moment. Plus, she'd stopped listening to that part of her brain when she'd climbed up the tower the night before to free Rapunzel.

"You think you're a hero, don't you? Well, let me tell you something: this hero will be hanged tomorrow, unless she decides to cooperate" threatened Conall, trying to bring Jean back on his side. Not that she was going to be his right hand any more. She was probably going to spend the rest of her days as a mere servant, but it still was a chance to avoid certain death. He felt generous for giving her such an opportunity, and hoped she wasn't going to be her usual stubborn self and decline it just for pride. Now, that would be a shame. Such a young lady sent to die because of her pride.

"What do you mean by cooperate?" asked Jean, who, reminded of the certain death that was waiting for her at dawn instantly felt her spirits lower. But she still was proud of her choices and wouldn't have gone back to change them for anything in the world. Her question to Conall was more a way to lose some time that something she was really interested in.

"Don't act dumb, because you know I'm not buying it." replied the man, slightly annoyed. The former spy raised an eyebrow innocently, to show she didn't understand what he meant, so he reluctantly went on "I want you to tell me who took the Princess, why and where they went." he just hoped she'd quit this act soon, so that he could get back to business, no matter if she cooperated or not. He had a Princess to track down, after all.

"I think your men can answer well enough the who and where, maybe even better than me. As for the why, I have no clue." she answred politely, but in a way that hid mocking.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure that you have some more information, and, trust me, you'd do better sharing it with me than keeping it to yourself." he tried to remain calm, but you could already see he was heating up. He hated the stubborness that moved the girl in front of him. When he'd seen how good she was with a bow he'd instantly realized the girl had a future in front of her. But that that future would've brought her againts him... No, he'd never even dreamed of that. Yet, here they were, facing each other as two nemesis would, while just the day before they'd been on the same side.

"I know nothing." stated firmly Jean, meeting Conall's eyes. Without even realizing what she was doing, she was slowly starting to accept the idea that this sort of was her fate. She'd never belived in fate, but now, after all that had happened, she remembered that old sorcerer her mother had taken her to when she was just a kid. That old woman had told her that one day she'd betray someone and die for that. Of course, she hadn't belived it, and even her mother, who usually trusted blindly the judgement of the sorcerer, had refused to believe such a path lay ahead of her dear daughter. Apparently, that old witch had been right when she'd read the palm of her hand.

"Liar!" Conall shouted "Tell me what you know!" His voice had lost all its calm, and he was fighting against himself to control the rage boiling inside him. That girl surely didn't know what her place was. She should've been begging for mercy, at that point, instead of moking him, trying to see how far she could push him before he exploded, like she was doing. She saw all of that as a game, he thought, one she thought she could win.

"I know nothing" repeated Jean, saying every word very slowly, so that it would sink in.

"Very well" Conall's voice was now chillingly calm "Then I'll see you tomorrow at dawn, at your execution" he hissed, before storming out of the room and slamming the door after he left.

Jean knew she'd just signed her death sentence, but what else ould she have done? She really didn't know anything, even though she had a few guesses of her own. But, deep inside her, she knew that even if she'd know something, she wouldn't have shared it with Conall, because the chapter in which her life revolved around him was finally over, and a new one had started, even though it might've turned out to be incredibly short.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry for not posting yesterday, but my iPad just wouldn't connect to the internet. Anyway, I hope the chapter's good, even if a little short :)**

**Thanks to LunaFlower217, bubzchoc and MakorraLove97 for reviewing :D**

**Enjoy!**

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"Ahhhrg!"

Eugene gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the pain his wound inflicted him whenerver Rapunzel dabbed it with a handkerchief she'd previously wet with some rum the thugs had provided. They didn't really have an emergency kit, and Rapunzel had gathered the few things that could be useful to mend Eugene's wound.

"Sorry" she apologized, pressing the tissue against the wound with both her hands. She'd have stopped right then, hadn't she known that if she did stop, then the wound could've gotten infected, and that would've probably been far worse than the pain Eugene was feeling at the moment.

"It's ok" he replied, through gritted teeth, his fists clenched, trying to ignore how much the cut burned. He opened his eyes, and looked at Rapunzel. The sight comforted him immensely. He knew it was dumb, but he still had some trouble believing she was there, with him. It seemed too good to be true. She took off the handkerchief and pressed it on the wound again, as a new pang of pain hit Eugene. She definitively was real, he decided, as he shut his eyes again.

He was lying on the ground, the thugs scattered around him, and Rapunzel kneeling at his side to take care of his cut. He hadn't imagined their reunion would've gone like that. Actually, his plans hadn't gone much further than managing to save her. He'd never thought about what'd happen after that.

"Killer?" Rapunzel called, leaving her spot to let the thug take it.

_Oh, no. Not Killer!_ Eugene thought as the thug kneeled beside him. It could only mean one thing: he needed stitches. He'd only needed stitches once before, when he'd cut his hand during training, and it wasn't something he had a happy memory of. Fortunately, Killer had been summoned just to check if stitches actually were needed and, after saying the wound was going to heal just fine without any stitching, gave back to Rapunzel the spot, so that she could bandage the Prince Consort. Eugene let a relived sigh escape from his mouth.

"Next time I come to rescue you, I'm coming with a full armor and the best sword your father can get me" he commented, while Rapunzel wrapped a piece of the Innkeeper's apron around his waist.

"Who says there'll be a next time?" she asked, hiding how worried she truly was. If the cut had been deeper.. she wasn't so sure she'd still have a husband.

"Well, a certain Princess sure doesn't seem to be able to keep herself out of trouble.." he replied with a weak grin. He still felt like his left side was on fire, but the worst had passed, and the fact that he was now a bit more relaxed showed it.

"Oh, shut up" she smiled and gave him a slight poke. She looked into his deep hazel eyes for a moment, before asking "Do you think you can stand?"

"Let me try" he answered, slowly lifting himself on his elbows. That was already something, he thought, while Rapunzel helped him sit up straight. He let out a moan as his wound reclaimed attention and the pain exploded once more. But, when he rested his back against a piece of tree trunk the thugs had brought him, he began feeling better. Rapunzel sat next to him and rested a hand on his shoulder "Does it hurt a lot?"

"Nah, not that much" he answered, straightening himself. The pain was already beginning to fade. If it kept going on like that, next morning he'd be completely fine. Or, almost.

"So, Rapunzel, what happened?" asked Hook Hand, who was one of the thugs closest to her. Now that the Prince Consort had been tended, he and the other wanted to know the story: what had been going on while they were looking for her?

"Where do I start?" she wondered, as she laced her fingers with Eugene's. She decided she'd better begin with when she'd woken up in the tower. So she started telling how she'd dealt with the realization she'd been kidnapped, how she'd befriended Jean, how Conall's visit had turned out and how she and Jean had managed to escape. The thugs listened carefully, without interrupting, as if she were telling them the best story of all times. Occasionally, they'd nod, or gesture for her to continue whenever she stopped to take a breath. Eugene did the same, but more than listening, he watched his wife, the way her lips moved while forming all those words, how her glance shifted from thug to thug and how she gestured to explain better with her free hand, since the other one was still laced through his. Listening and watching he realized that she wasn't anymore the girl he'd found in that tower a year before. He realized she'd changed, and had become more sure of herself, more independent and brave now that she was free to live her life as any normal person would.

"But then they caught us and, if it hadn't been for you, I'd be locked up in that tower right now" she finished. She hadn't skipped the part about Jean, and had been happy to notice that the thugs had her same opinion about the girl: she wasn't an enemy, but an ally. The Princess wanted to ask if they were ready to help Jean escape, but she thought it'd be better to learn what had been their adventure before focusing on how to save her friend.

"About that, how did you find us?" she asked, looking first at Eugene an than at the thugs.

"Well, first I think you should know how we ended up together" said the Prince Consort. Rapunzel told him to go on, and he explained her how Max had found the creek and Shorty had shown up, giving them a promising lead to the thugs' location. At that point Shorty jumped up, asking "Who said my name?! I didn't do anything!" and causing the rest of the group to laugh.

"He should really give up drinking" Hook Hand managed to say, between a laugh and the other. They were laughing mostly because they were together, and they were relieved to be safe and sound, after the fear that had guided them for the past two days. After the laughter had died down, Eugene let Hook Hand tell the rest of the story, while the other thugs nodded in agreement and added this or that to the main stream. When he came to telling how Greno had alerted them about their presence, he let him take the word, that went back to Hook Hand as soon as he'd told how he'd delivered the news to the others. As for the battle, the thugs took some extra pride about it, and exaggerated the details a bit, while Eugene kept whispering in Rapunzel's ear things like "Totally not true" or "They're just making stuff up to impress you", which made the Princess have to bite down a chuckle.

"And now we're here, laughing and everything" Hook Hand concluded with a smile. Rapunzel smiled back thinking about how lucky she was to have all those friends ready to save her, no matter who there was to go through. She'd have never dreamed of finding them, when she lived in the tower, not after what Gothel had told her about the outside world. She replayed all those years of lies, sometimes, and realized how hypocrite Gothel had been, saying she wanted to protect her. She was just glad that chapter of her life was over now. She didn't know how her life would've been if Eugene hadn't climbed up her tower that day. Maybe she'd have ran away on her own, eventually, but she preferred the way things had turned out to any hypothesis she could've come up with.

...

Eugene and Rapunzel were sitting next to each other while the thugs were making supper or talking, finally getting the chance to be alone.

"Promise you'll never put yourself in danger again. You have no idea how worried I was when you were battling that soldier with a frying pan" Rapunzel said softly, hoping Eugene wouldn't have any objections to make.

"Ok, I admit I should've thought about bringing a weapon with me, but how can I promise that if you don't promise to stop getting kidnapped by evil people who want to use your magic hair?" he asked. It was something between a tease and an excuse, and she wasn't sure how to react, so she just commented "I hate when you're so difficult"

"I am not!" Eugene defended himself, a smile slowly appearing on his face.

"Oh, yes you are. But I think I love you anyway" she replied grinning.

"How kind of you!" he mocked before pulling her closer to him to kiss her. He thought he could've lived just of her kisses, they made him feel like every day was the best of his life, even if he'd just had to go through a really hard session of training, or his plans had just turned to dust.

"Promise" she said, again. This time she was almost pleading, and Eugene didn't hesitate to reply "I promise, no more putting myself in danger" From the way he said it, you'd have thought he was going to keep his promise, no matter what, but he knew that if Rapunzel's safety would be at stake, he wouldn't hesitate to break it. Maybe the Princess read it in his eyes (she was the only one who managed to know what his thoughts were) because she sighed before kissing him.

"I love you" he whispered, brushing a strand of hair away from her forehead.

"I love you too" she replied, smiling weakly and resting her head onto his shoulder.

"I hope for you that people will stop kidnapping me, otherwise you'll break your promise, and you have no idea how angry I get when someone doesn't keep their word" she said, looking up at him.

"I'll keep that in mind" he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews and for everything else (faving, following, even just reading)! **

**Just five chapters to go.. I hope you like them! :)**

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There was to admit that the Innkeeper's job was admirable. He'd managed to cook a superb meal with the few things the thugs had brought with them, and everyone was rather satisfied with their supper. Everyone was cheerful, given they'd rescued the Princess, and even though she tried her best to enjoy the dinner, Rapunzel kept thinking about Jean, wondering which would be the right moment to let the others know that she needed their help to save her friend. She hoped the'd understand why she wanted to help her. The last thing she wanted was for the thugs and Eugene to start arguing about what was the right thing to do. She rubbed a hand across her forehead and sighed, trying to order a bit the thoughts that swirled around her brain, one contraddicting the other. Eugene noticed that her face had darkened, and placed a hand above hers "Is everything alright?" he asked, seeking her eyes for a hint. He had a half idea of what might be bothering his wife, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions so soon.

"Yeah, it's just.. I'm worried about a friend" she answered, raising her head and trying a weak smile.

"And you should be worried because..?" he asked, trying to get her to tell him the whole story. She sometimes tried hiding things from him, but it never worked. He was too good at spotting every little detail she was leaving out. Plus, she'd always been an open book, so it wasn't that hard to read her thoughts, even for someone that wasn't a lie expert like Eugene. After the friend hint, he was pretty sure he'd guessed right, she was thinking about Jean. Still, he wanted her to tell him.

"Because.. She got herself in trouble to help me.." she mumbled, playing with the remainders of the slice of bread she'd eaten along with the soup. She knew Eugene had guessed what was on her mind, by then, and she was merely trying to lose time, since there was nothing to hide anymore.

"We're talking about Jean, aren't we?" he asked. He feared they'd go on with that game forever, so he just asked directly if he was right, instead of asking for hints. He'd expected Rapunzel to worry for her, it was just the way she was, and he wasn't surprised at all when she said "I want to help her", her eyes still fixated on the plate in front of her.

She sounded shy, as if she were afraid that he'd leave her to handle the matter alone. By then, she should've known that he'd never do such a thing. He'd help her put in action whatever plan she had in mind, even if it was suicide. He'd help her to do anything anytime. He thought that was one of the basic points of a relationship: support. Except for Rapunzel, nobody had ever really supported him, and it was probably how she'd grown to trust him, in that naïve way of hers, that had made him fall in love with her. That, along with many other of her qualities.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, smiling to let her know that he was on her side. Rapunzel noticed and smiled back. This time it was a bright smile, just the one he'd wanted to see.

"For now, nothing. I just know I'll need all the help I can get." she answered, now grinning.

Minutes later, they were all gathered around a campfire, as Rapunzel took a big breath and got ready to speak.

"I told you Jean helped me escape, right?" she said "And I know she's in trouble because of that. A lot of trouble. I heard one of the guards talking about an execution. So.." she stopped for a second "I want to get her out of Conall's palace." she was about to add 'But for that I need your help' when Big Nose said "You can count on us! Right guys?"

The response was unanimous, of course they'd help!

"After all, it is partly thanks to her that you're here now" added Hook Hand, provoking a wave of nods, "Tell us what you came up with" he expected Rapunzel to have a plan, or at least an idea, since rescuing someone without a plan was unthinkable and undeniably stupid.

"Actually, I was hoping you'd think of a plan, since I'm not a great strategist" she replied. She'd known that they'd ask a similar question, and she felt embarrassed by how she was loading the whole weight of the thing on the thugs. She would've liked to do more, but she was completely helpless when it came to plans or anything like that. She was an artist, not a spy or a general.

"Don't worry, we'll come up with something good in no time" Fang reassured her, noticing how her eyes had drifted to he ground while she spoke.

"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me!" Rapunzel would've hugged them all, if her arms hadn't been so thin and short. Eugene seemed to read her mind "Group hug?" he suggested.

"There'll be time to cheer later, once we get Jean out of the tower. Now we have a plan to lay out" said Hook Hand. He was very determined and in no time he and the other thugs had a very approximate map set up on the ground, away from the fire place sothat eveyone could have a good view of it while they sat around it.

"We are the white rock over there, while the black one is Conall's palace. Now, Goldie, you'll guide us to the palace, since we have no idea how to get there, we just know it's smewhere north. You think you can find the way back?" Hook Hand asked, sitting cross legged right in front of the two rocks. It was quite a useless way to map things, but it still helped him put everything in the right order and reason efficiently.

"Yeah, sure. We just have to go back to where you ambushed the soldiers and go straight north from there. It shouldn't be too hard." Rapunzel remembered quite well the path she and Jean had followed while escaping, and she'd noticed the soldiers were following the same path, so she was pretty sure they just had to go straight ahead. Or, at least, she hoped so.

"Good. So that's setlled. Now, we will out our plan into action tonight, since executions usually take place at dawn. Right?" Hook Hand continued, moving the white rock towards the black one.

"Yeah.. Just one thing: what's our plan?" asked Eugene. He was quite sure they still didn't have one, unless he'd somehow missed some important passages.

"I was about to get to it" replied Hook Hand, piqued. If there had to be one thing he couldn't stand was criticism. Especially if towards the way he handled something. But, since Rapunzel was present, he tried not to give the fact too much weight. He thought about it a second, then went on "We need someone to sneak in and free Jean. I'd say the best person to do that would be Rapunzel, since she already knows how to move around in there, at least approximatively, but there's no way you're going back in that place."

Rapunzel opened her mouth to protest: if she had better chances to accomplish the mission, why couldn't she go? But Eugene was quicker "I agree. We'll send someone else"

Again, Rapunzel tried to argue, and again, Eugene anticipated her "I just managed to get you back, I can't let you go, knowing that you might get caught." he explaind, meeting her glance. When she saw how sincerely worried he was, she lowered her head and nodded. Then Eugene took her hand, and she smiled feebly at him, understanding how he felt.

"Good. Our second best shot is to send you, Eugene. The rest of us either are too big to sneak in without being noticed or too young and unexperienced to rely on. Being a theif, you have a lot of practice at sneaking in.." Hook Hand was cut off by the Prince Consort reminding him of his new status "Erm, ex-thief"

"Whatever, Rider. Now, you up for it?" the thug ignored the interruption and went on.

Eugene was about to agree, but this time it was Rapunzel's turn to intervene "He's not doing anything, not with his wound" same way Eugene couldn't let her get caught, she couldn't let him put himself in danger. She turned to face him, and he sighed.

"I know you're worried about me, but I think I can do it. I will get in in no time, and be back out in the blink of an eye. You won't even realize I'm gone" he said, trying to comfort her. The Princess didn't seem very convinced, and she lowered her gaze. Eugene gently lifted her face upwards "It's our best chance. The wound almost doesn't hurt at all anymore. I promise I will come back out safe and sound, along with Jean."

Since Rapunzel still didn't seem to be fine with that arrangement, he asked her a very simple question "Do you trust me?"

She didn't hesitate, and nodded.

"Then believe me when I tell you everything will be alright. I know I can do it."

She nodded again, and took his hand, resting her head on his shoulder. She knew that it was the right choice, but she couldn't help being worried. How could she have felt otherwise? He was her husband, and the thought of sending him in that castle all alone didn't make her happy at all. But she knew Eugene, and he would've gone even if she disapproved, if he thought it was the best thing to do. So it was better for her to be on his side, since she didn't want to argue. He kissed her forehead and she sighed, hoping she wasn't going to regret having trusted his judgement about his own capacities.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thanks so much for the positive reviews, they always give me more faith in this story! I hope this chapter won't let you down, and leave it to you to judge :)**

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Everything was quiet. Maybe even too quiet for Eugene not to be suspicious. It was the middle of the night, alright, but even at the castle of Corona, you could always hear two guards on their night shift talking to make time pass more quickly and keep each other from falling asleep or one of the personnel that couldn't sleep and went to the kitchens to get a glass of water, usually bumping into something on his way and hoping nobody'd heard him.

The Prince Consort had slipped into the palace from a window that had been left open just a crack, to let the chilly night air come in, after climbing up a human staircase composed by the thugs. Unfortunately, a gurd had seen them, and now the ruffians,who had stayed out of the palace, were taking care of him and any other eventual sentinels. Hopefully, one of them had the key to the central entrance, which would make the rest of the troop come into the palace as well. The original plan was to send Axel along with Eugene in the castle, and while Eugene looked for the tower (Rapunzel's best guess on Jean's location) he'd go open the others, who would then start taking care of the guards. Knowing Axel, and how worried he could get for little things, Eugene was glad he'd come in alone.

Now he was walking soundlessly down a corridor, not knowing exactly where he was going, but hoping he'd find a giant sign reading TOWER, sooner or later. Rapunzel had suggested for him to go barefoot, and he had to admit it was a great idea. He didn't even have to worry about his footfalls, since they were barely audible, and the old bordeaux carpet that covered all the corridor floors surely helped. For how things were going, it wasn't going to be to hard, he told himself, as he strolled around, glancing at his sides, always looking for the entrance to the tower. Rapunzel had just managed to recall that there were a lot of stairs to climb up and that there was no door to get to them, just the hole whe it should have been. Still no sight of a staircase..

Eugene heard some metal clattering, and he instantly got his back against a wall, proceeding laterally, his hands moving along the bricks. His brain started churning out hypothesis, as he cursed himself for having assumed so fast that it was going to be easy. Obviously, that had brought him bad luck.

His list of possible causes for that sudden intterruption of the night calm grew with every minute. It could've been a servant messing in the kitchens or a guard that had made his sword fall, or a thousand other things. A corner came into view, and he slowed down, stopping just before he had to round it, exposing himself too much. He heard some muttering, which gave more credit to the fallen sword, since he was quite sure the kitchens weren't so near. Even though he'd never been in the palace, he just knew it. He took a deep breath and pushed himself a bit over the end of the wall, peeking down the next corridor. What he saw didn't match any of his guesses. Not even by far.

A boy about sixteen was desperately trying to get an armor to stand. He'd probably hit it while walking blindly down the corridor, and that had provoked the clattering. He almost snickered at how hopeless the kid was. He was thin and tall, and obviously didn't have the strenghth to straighten that armor. He knew because the same thing had happened to him, once, and repairing to the damage done had taken him a lot of effort. He stood there, observing that hopeless battle againts forged metal the sixteen-year-old was conducting before rounding the corner and putting himself in plain sight, moved by simpathy and by the conviction that the lad wasn't a threat at all.

He was right, because as soon as he noticed Eugene's presence, the kid jumped back.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, not recognizing his face, and guessing he was an intruder.

"Helping a friend" answered cryptically the Prince Consort, taking a step towards the fallen armor. The kid raised an eyebrow, asking for explanations. Eugene figured all that must be very confusing for him and thought a second about what answer he should give. Rapunzel had told him that Jean wasn't very well-liked by the rest of the personnel, but he couldn't come up with a lie good enough to trick someone, so he said the truth "I'm here to help Jean escape." He hoped the kid would recognize the name, so that they could move on to the part where Eugene told him to be quiet, otherwise he'd be in trouble and the kid, scared, would agree and hide somewhere, letting him proceed smoothly in his search for the tower.

"Why should you help Jean?"

Another question. This kid was really starting to annoy him. He didn't have any time to lose, and yet there he was, being interrogated by a sixteen-year-old who'd been trying to get an armor back on its feet just a couple of minutes earlier. He got back his patience, took a breath and answered "Because she helped my wife get out of here. I'm paying her back the favour"

That seemed not only to satisfy the kid, but to give him a reason to be excited as well. He inched closer and took a good look at him, as a smile appered on his face.

"You're the Prince Consort of Corona, aren't you?" he asked.

Eugene hoped it was something to his advantge "Yes. Yes, I am" he said, wondering what would be next. For how things had been going, that kid could've also been a magician willing to help him because he had a crush on the Princess, and Eugene wouldn't have been too surprised about that.

"Come with me" ordered the kid. Eugene didn't move, not really trusting him, because, after all, he was one of Conall's servants, if he was inside the palace, and he didn't feel like putting his task in the hands of an enemy. The kid seemed to notice that and added "I'm a friend of Jean. I'll take you to where she's locked up in."

"The tower?" asked Eugene, still hesitating. It sure was the most promising lead he'd gotten so far about the tower's location, but it came from someone he wasn't sure he could trust, all the same.

"The same one Conall put the Princess in" he answered, nodding.

Eugene rubbed a hand against the back of his neck and stood there for a few seconds, wondering what he should do: follow the boy or... Or what? Tie him up and go his own way? What if he screamed for help? He sure wasn't as whimpy as he seemed. Maybe he even had the guts to be on Jean's side when everyone was against her. Maybe he was just the giant 'TOWER' sign he'd been looking for..

"Do you want to come or stay here forever?" asked the boy, impatiently. Euegne looked at him for one last moment, then nodded "Let's go"

The kid grinned and started walking, followed by Eugene, who hoped he hadn't just messed everything up.

As they headed to the tower, Eugene finally got to know the boy's name: Leonard. As for any other information, he didn't get any, because it didn't seem like the right time to get to know each other. They walked fast, and Leonard was nearly as soundless as him, since he was barefoot as well. The Prince Consort guessed it was because he'd just gotten out of bed, maybe because he couldn't get any sleep. They reached the staircase to the tower quite fast, and there Leonard stopped, giving the last instructions "There is a guard upstairs. He has all the keys you'll need: to get into the tower and unchain Jean. As all the guard, he's sloppy, and might be sleeping by now. I'll stay down here and check for anyone coming. You never know. Besides, I would never be able to keep up with your rythm and climb the stairs fast enough."

Eugene, satisfied with all those explanations, nodded, thanked for all the help and strated up the stairs. He had no idea how many there were, but went on tirelessly until he saw the last step. Then, with renewed determination, he sprinted again and found himself in front of a sleeping soldier. Trying to calm down his heartbeat and his breathing at the same time, he inched closer and looked for the keys. They were attached at his belt, and the Prince Consort had to think about a way to get them without waking him up. He circled around him, trying to get a view from all angles and deciding what would be best to do. Then he scanned his surroundings, looking for something that could be useful. Not finding anything, he had to proceed the simple way: he kneeled beside the guard and tried to get the keys without disturbing the soldier's slumber. It wasn't too hard, since he'd learned to pickpocket as first thing when he'd started his career as a theif. After a few seconds of trying silently to get them, he managed to detach them from the soldier's belt and grinned, proud of his job. After all, he still had the skills of a thief. Now he just had to find the right key and get in.

He fiddled with them for a while, inserting one key after the other until he found the right one. He opened the door, which squeaked, and glanced back to the soldier, making sure he was still resting on his wooden chair. Fortunately, he was. Eugene walked in the room and noticed a figure curled up on the floor. He inched closer, and under the moonlight, he recognized her feminine traits, even if very sharp. It must be Jean. He gently placed a hand on her shourlder, and she jumped up suddenly, scaring him to death and almost making him fall backwards. The thought she might be half dead with fear as well didn't even stroke him.

"Who are you?" she asked, confused.

"Rapunzel's husband, Eugene. I'm here to make sure they don't hang you or burn you or whatever they have on schedule. Now give me your wrists, I have to take those chains off." he gave all the information at the same time, wanting to spare some precious seconds. Jean didn't seem to be very suspicious, and gave him her wrists. Again, he had to try several times before he found the right key, but at last he managed to unlock the chains. Jean sighed with relief and he moved on to her ankles. He was working as fast as he could, but the scarse illumination made evrything more difficult.

"Thank you. Thank you so much" said Jean when she was completely free. Eugene smiled at her "You're welcome. Now let's get out of here."

"Can I lead? I know a secret passage-" she begun, but Eugene stopped her "Rapunzel told me. Go ahead, I'll be right behind you."

Jean smiled and nodded, as she got out of the room and ran down the stairs, Eugene trailing right behind her. That night had already been full of surprises, and another one was waiting for her at the end of the staircase.

"Leonard! What are you doing here?" she asked as soon as she saw the boy leaning against the wall.

"He helped me find you" answered Eugene, from behind her, while Leonard grinned.

"You're welcome" he said, not even waiting for his friend to thank him "Now get out of here, or someone might see you" he urged them.

"You aren't coming?" asked Eugene, surprised. He'd expected the boy would've wanted to go with them. If his instincts were right, then Leonard didn't like at all his job at the palace.

"Yes he is" said Jean, in a tone that didn't admit any replies. Leonard was a younger brother to her, and she wasn't going to leave him behind. Not again, at least. The first time she'd run away, she hadn't told him anything, fearing she'd get caught, but this time... This time they would make it, she was sure of it. And Leonard was going to come along.

"Apparently, I am" said Leonard, smiling. He hadn't wanted to impose his presence, but now Jean had invited him, and he wasn't going to turn down he invitation.

"Very well. Now, Jean, get us out of this place" Eugene nodded to the former spy, and she started walking with a quick pace, following the path that would lead her to freedom, followed by an ex-thief, now Prince Consort of Corona, and a sixteen-year-old she loved like a brother and who already had the weight of his family on his thin shoulders.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I'm so glad you guys all like the story! I don't think I'm going to add any extra chapters to the ones I already planned, but maybe I could write a sequel, even though right now I really wouldn't know where to begin from... Anyway, enjoy! :D**

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Keeping calm when the Princess had escaped had been hard, let alone when he'd discovered Jean had betayed him. Then he'd had to deal with having back only Jean, and now.. Now Conall felt like he could've blown every person on earth into a million little pieces. And he'd have started without hesitating, hadn't he had just one thing on his mind: getting his hands on Jean and the Princess. Possibly, killing anyone who was willing to help those two, at the same time. That included anyone serving the King, those weird ruffians and the Prince Consort. He wanted to set up something special for that lurid thief who had conquered the Princess's heart, because he was sure he was behind all of his failures. He'd freed the Princess when the guards were escorting her back to the palace, and Conall had the suspect he was behind Jean's escape as well, since the guards that had fought the ruffians the night before had reported they'd seen someone climbing in from a window, before getting knocked out. And he had this feeling it was the thief. God, how he hated that man. For a short time, he'd been grateful to him for bringing the Princess back, but now he wished that Eugene Fitzherbert or whatever his name was, had never been born: it'd have saved him so much trouble! Without considering hat Conall just couldn't understand why he'd come back for Jean: what had she done for him? Freed the Princess? Didn't the Prince Constor know that it was her fault if his lovely bride had been captured and locked up in that tower in the first place? And if he did, how could he have forgiven her?

Conall groaned and shook his head. Staying there and trying to understand other people's motives was useless, but at least it distracted his from how bad the situation was. All because that stupid girl of Jean had decided she had to "do the right thing". Why did all people have a conscience? Living would be so much easier without one! Especially when your ways to get what you wanted weren't exactly orthodox. He never listened to what that little voice inside of him said. In fact, he was pretty sure it had gotten tired and had given up some time before, since he didn't hear it anymore. Not that it made all that difference.

He got up from his old but still comfortable chair, and started pacing back and forth. Why was Leonard so late? He usually came to his study at six in the morning, to ask if he needed anything and to report what had been going on the previous evening. In fact, his men thought he had no clue they got drunk every now and then right under his nose, but he wasn't that stupid. Oh, no, he had the young boy tell him everything that happened when he wasn't looking. He was very promising, even if a little wimpy, and none of the soldiers would've ever suspected he was behind it all whenever Conall knew they'd messed around the night before.

But that morning Leonard was late. Very late. It was half past six and there still was no sign of him. It looked like people liked seeing him angry, since they did everything to make him so. He glanced at the grand father clock and snorted. The kid was going to pay for that.

Conall reluctantly got out of the study, and headed towards the servants' dorms. He had a really quick pace, and when he passed by, you could feel the air moving around him, for how fast he was. His hair was long enough to swirl about whenever he walked, and it gave him the looks of one who was constanly annoyed and out of time, which wasn't so far from the truth. Not in that moment, at least. Hs study was in the South wing, along with all the other important rooms, while all dorms and quarters were in the East wing. As for the West and North wings, they were nearly abandoned, and no one really knew what was over there anymore. The West wing was only used for the tower, but nothing else.

He rounded a corner and various servants came into view. They seemed calm, as if it were just another normal day. As if no execution had been planned for dawn. As if that same execution hadn't been canceled because that morning, when the guard charged with the job had gone to get the prisoner, he'd found the cell empty, and his fellow soldier sleeping on the floor (Conall made a note to punish that guard as well). The servants' calm irritated him even more, so he asked, in a dry tone "Where's Leonard?"

The servants looked at each other, not knowing what to answer.

"Where is he?" Conall wanted to throw all of them in jail, for being so slow a answering his questions. He would've done that, if only he'd had some decent prisions in that palace. But, of course, why build prisions when you can build a tower? It's way more scenic! He'd never be able to understand nobles and their little twisted minds.

"We haven't seen him since yesterday" answered a man, shrugging.

"And you didn't tell me?" he was going to build prisions, no matter how much it'd cost him, just to lock them down there. Couldn't they understand how bad that whole situation was? Had he hired a bunch of idiots? First the guards that let a band of ruffians stop them, now these men that hadn't seen one of their fellow servants for nearly twenty-four hours and didn't report.. He had to change the whole palace personnel, no matter how much it'd take. And how much he would have to spend of the treasure he'd found in the room that now was his study. That was how he paid everyone that worked for him, with all those golden coins he'd found hidden under a loose floorboard. That palace truly had been the best that had ever happened to him. It was a gold mine, literally, no matter how old and worn it may have looked from the outside.

"We didn't think it would be relevant" apologized another one of the men. Noticing how anger was rising inside his master. No one wanted to see Conall angry, since they all knew it meant nothing but really bad news to whoever was present while he exploded with rage.

"You didn't think it would be relevant? And how could you? You never think!" He shouted, storming past them to go to the armory. Leonard had run away with Jean, obviously. And, if his instincts were right, they were both with the ruffians and the royal couple. They might also be on their own somewher in the forest, and maybe that Eugene hadn't freed Jean after all, but usually his instincts were right, and this time they told him that all the people who had vaused him so much trouble were together. He was tired of sending incompetent people after his targets, just to be let down and left with rising anger each time, so this time he'd handle the matter alone. He'd take care of the Prince Consort first, and then move on to the rest of the troop. This time, faiulre wasn't an option.

...

Jean was grinning like an idiot as she felt the wind hit her face. The horse she was riding, along with one of the thugs, was running as fast as he could. As the rest of the horses, he was trying hard to keep up with Max, who led the group. The Prince Consort and Rapnzel were riding on him, and they both looked very happy to go back home. Or maybe they were just happy to be together again. They looked like they could've been the happiest people on earth even if they had had to live in misery, as long as they were together. It was something she just found difficult to understand, how a person could make you so happy you forgot all your troubles. She'd never felt like that about anyone. It wasn't the only thing that troubled her, as Jean still couldn't believe Rapunzel had coaxed her husband and those ruffians into helping her escape. It was something insane. Something only the Princess could've managed. She still had to understand completely how her brain worked, since she was different from all the people she'd met so far. Different in a good way, that is. She owed her so much, and she had no idea how she was ever going to pay her back. If she ever got the chance to do so. The Princess would surely never accept any money, or any other kind of good, so what could she do? She didn't even know what her future was going to be like anymore. She'd dreamed of living alone in the woods, true, but now that she'd seen the way the ex-thief and Rapunzel looked at each other... Well, she wished she had someone to share her life with. Someone to understand her, support her and be on her side at all times. For the first time in her life, she wanted a Prince Charming to cross her path and make her fall in love. It was something strange for her, since she'd never been a romantic. Actually, she'd never even thought about marrying and having kids and all that stuff girls usually saw as their goal. When she'd imagined herself in the future, she'd always seen a lot of adventures in the woods, alone. Maybe with an animal to become her most trusted friend, but no other human beings. No, she worked alone. But now, the Princess had made her change her mind without even trying, and she suddenly didn't know where the path she'd chosen would lead anymore. Maybe this trip to the capital would help her clear her mind. Actually, she didn't even know why she was going to the capital. That's when she realized it was because she had nowhere else to go. She shook her head and wiped those thoughts from her mind, in the attemp to preserve her mental sanity.

Everything finally looked to be about to go back into place, and Jean would've been as happy as the royal couple was if she hadn't known how unstoppable Conall was when he was furious. She'd seen him, a few times, in that state, and she hoped they'd get to the capital before her ex-master reached them, but that was all she could do. It wasn't like she had the power to stop him. She'd never really been good enough with a sword to beat him in a duel. She'd never even thought about it: Conall might be selfish and everything, but if there was one thing he deserved to be called was a very good swordsman, one of the best in Corona, maybe.

She didn't want to spoil the carefree atmosphere that reigned among the group with her worries, so she decided she'd only share them with the one person who had her same fears: Leonard. He was riding right beside her, behind a huge thug who had a hook instead of his left hand, and seemed to be some sort of leader for the rest of the group.

She glanced at her friend and tried to make sure all her thoughts shone in her eyes. It somehow was ironic, since she'd tried so hard to do the opposite for a great part of her life, considering that being an open book would be a disadvantage. Leonard returned her glance, and in his eyes she read the same things that she was trying to share with him.

"What do we do now?" silently asked the boy. He hoped Jean would have an emergency plan. She always did. It was one of the many things he admired her for.

"We wait" she mouthed, resigned. There was nothing else that could be done. They just had to wait. Wait and hope. Hope for Conall not to reach them and for things to finally start going their way.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Sorry for the dealy, but I was reading a book and simply couldn't put it down xD When I realized that I should be posting the chapter it already was very late and I was really tired, so.. I'm posting now :)**

**Anyway, thanks for the reviews, the follows, the favs and.. Enjoy! :D**

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His black stallion was fast, and Conall was sure he was going to reach the fugitives soon enough. He'd decided to do everything alone: why should he rely on someone just to be let down? It was time for him to start doing things personally, otherwise he'd be stuck in failure forever, and that didn't exactly match his plans.

He thought about all the events that had brought to the situation he now was in. First of all was the Princess's stubbornness: if she'd just chosen to cooperate, then he'd have let her out if the tower and into a more comforable room, where she'd have spent the rest of her days in relative comfort. He needed her to sing to him periodically, so that he'd be constantly young, if he'd understood correctly how that magic worked, so he couldn't exactly let the Princess go, could he?

Then there was Jean's good heart: didn't she know that a spy needs to be heartless? That was rule number one in every kind of training! But, her being a woman, he should've expected such weaknesses. He was glad he'd only made the mistake to let a woman have a role in the army only once, and was soon going to repair it. Third was the incomptecence of his 'best' men, who had let those ruffians take the Princess. The aforementioned ruffians were a complication as well: how much alcohol had they drunk, to suddenly feel like saving a Princess? They should've been on his side (or, at least, not on the Princess's)! They were criminals, they were against the kingdom, not allied with it! Unless.. The king and Queen might have promised an inviting amount of money to anyone who brought back the Princess. But still, it didn't make much sense to him.

And, last but not least, the thief, or Prince Consort. He was at least as out of character as the ruffians: a woman kidnaps your wife and when she gets caught herself, what do you do? You free her, as if she were one of your closest friends. True, Jean had helped the Princess escape, but was it possible that Flynn Rider (or Eugene Fitzsomething, whatever his name was) had needed such a small proof of repentance to consider the former spy as an ally and not as an enemy? Shouldn't he be the one who didn't trust people? He had a past a a criminal! Why was he suddendly so ready to get himself in serious teouble for someone who hadn't done anything for him?!

Oh, and then there was Leonard. It looked like betrayal was the latest fashion: everyone kept turning their backs on him! That had been the worst period of his life, when it should've been the exact opposite. All his plans had been blown to dust, and he'd reduced himself to chasing a teenage girl, a spy, a thief, a wimpy boy and a bunch of ruffians.

It wasn't until he put the situation in those terms that he realized what a ridiculous and unusual group his opponents were. They had no reasonable motive to be together, and yet they were somewhere in front of him, running away together as if they'd known each other for ages. He'd never had any true friends. Not that he'd cared, even as a boy. No, it somehow made him proud: he didn't need anyone. If he became imprisoned in some far land, the only person he could count on to get him out of there would be himself, and that fact made him feel even more powerful. He worked alone. Sure, he'd relied on his army, Jean and his servants in the past few years, but just because he didn't want to do all the hard work, if he could pay someone else to do it. There was to admit, it hadn't turned out all that well, after all. But he was going to get things straight very soon. As soon as he reached the weird group riding ahead of him.

...

Eugene felt Rapunzel's arms tightly wrapped around his waist and smiled. Even he himself couldn't realize how much he actually was happy. He just knew he was incredibly glad he had Rapunzel back and that they were on their way to Corona to get back to their normal lives. He thought about how long they'd been away. Not even three days, yet it felt like a lot more. It was probably because of all the things that had happened to them: those two days and a half surely had been full of events, there was no denying it. He'd never felt so tired during his whole life, and he thought it was because the quick succession of events and all the emotions that had moved him during those days: fear, love, determination, friendship.. A bit of everything.

He couldn't wait to be alone with Rapunzel. They'd had just a few moments to themselves, and even then, the pubs had been present, even if occupied by other activities. He wanted to finally have her all to himself. Of course, that would have to wait: she first had to spend some time with her parents, tell them about the kidnapping and all that stuff, but then... He hoped they'd be left alone, finally. A nasty little voice inside his head told him there were other things that needed to be settled before he could get some well-deserved rest, but he decided to ignore it, concentrating instead on the road.

Max was running fast, and Eugene had no idea how the other horses could've ever been able to keep up. They weren't trained to be fast, and they were carrying quite a heavy load: the ones that had been lucky were carrying the lightest thugs, but even like that two of them had to sustain a thug plus Jean or Leonard.

The Prince Consort turned and examined the situation. They were keeping up quite well, actually, even though they looked a bit out of strenghth. They'd go on a little bit and then stop to have a break. He glanced one last time behind him before turning around. That's when he saw the horse that was pointing straight towards them. As an instinctive rection, he pulled the reins and Max stopped. He was curious about the stranger that was approaching them. Rapunzel seemed to have noticed him as well, and was now sharpening her glance to see who he was. The thugs had stopped their horses as well, and now everyone's head was bent at a rather uncomfortable angle to get a decent view of the man.

"Oh no" Jean looked terrified.

"What...?" Eugene was confused by that comment, and didn't understand why a stranger scared so much Jean. There was nothing weird about him, except maybe how fast he rode. But then Rapunzel recognized the stranger as well "It's Conall"

Eugene didn't need to check for himself to realize the two ladies were right. His brain told him to run, but he was no coward, and he wasn't going to scurry away like a scared rabbit. He turned his horse and stood there, waiting for the man that had kidnapped his wife to come and face him. Conall could've been anything, but Eugne wasn't backing down. Not even with his wound. Fortunately, it had been much less serious than what it had seemed. After the first few hours, in fact, it had stopped being so nasty, and had given no more problems. Just then, Eugene rememdered about it, but it didn't undermine at all his determination. The thugs looked at him, and if they'd thought about suggesting they should run like the wind, they'd changed their minds. Jean seemed to see things as Eugene did, and didn't utter a sound. Same for Leonard, who knowingly followed Jean's example. Rapunzel opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again and just held on tighter to him. She knew telling him to turn around and run would be useless. She knew the expression he had, and it was of utmost determination. If there was one thing even Rapunzel couldn't do was make Eugene change his mind about something when he'd already taken his final decision. So she thought it'd be better not to argue and to just be on his side, whatever was to happen.

Conall reached them in a handful of seconds and stopped right in front of Eugene, while their two stallions glared at each other.

"What do you want?" asked the Prince Consort, while Rapunzel peeked from behind his back.

"Eternal youth" answered calmly Conall "And.. To challenge you in a duel. Whoever wins keeps the treasure"

Eugene felt a pang of sickness when he realized the treasure was Rapunzel. What if he lost?

"So? Are you up for it?" Conall asked.

"No" said Rapunzel.

"Yes" answered Eugene at the same time. The Prince Consort turned to look at his wife "I can do this. I can win" he reassured her. He didn't know if she'd decided to trust him or she'd just realized she'd never be able to make him step down, but she finally said "Alright", giving him some sort of permission to accept Conall's challenge. He smiled at her reassuringly and took a deep breath before he dismounted. He expected his wound to hurt, but, almost magically, it didn't. That was a good start. He'd feared he'd have to go through the duel with his wound protesting against his every move, but it didn't seem like it. Or, at least, not yet. Gunther whistled, and Eugene turned to see a sword coming straight his way. He managed to get hold of its hilt before being sliced in two and checked how it felt in his hand before nodding to Conall to say he was ready. He'd trained, back at the castle, he could do this.

The two took place one in front of the other, breathing slowly and studying their opponent, trying to detect his weaknesses and his strengths, deciding which would be the right moment to begin the duel. There was an utmost silence among the spectators, and Conall had the neat feeling they were holding their breath. Maybe they knew their friend wasn't going to come out of it alive. Because, if there had to be one thing Conall was sure of, it was that no one could ever beat him in a duel. No one ever had and no one ever would have. He was unbeatable. Encouraged by this certainity, he decided to be the first one to strike, and begun by trying to catch Eugene off guard on his left, since he was right-handed. Little did he know that a wound was under his vest on that side. Eugene immediatly saw the blade and stopped it, wondering if Conall knew about his wound or not. He hoped not, otherwise he'd have a huge head start. Conall retreated his sword and they began circling each other, calculating, waiting and trying to decide what would be best. This time, Eugene moved first, faking a thrust to his opponent's left side and then pointing toward his right. Conall twisted his wrist and blocked the blade the was coming his way quickly. It felt like the two of them were suspended in a timeless dimension, where nothing mattered or existed but the battle that was developing between them. After that beginning, full of hesitation, none of them felt like being careful anymore, and they started moving quickly: Conall tried a lunge for Eugene's shoulder, quickly changing the blade's direction when he saw he was going to be stopped and pointing his sword to Eugene's side. Eugene dodged the blow and got ready to strike himself, deciding to give a shot at trying to leave Conall weaponless and aiming for the spot where his hand met the hilt of the sword. Conall figured it out and jumped backwards just in time, as the two blades clashed againts each other.

Conall tightened the grip on his sword and pushed against the other blade, trying to make it fly out of Eugene's hands. Eugene tried to contrast him for a while, then decided to make his sword slide away from Conall's and try another lunge. He aimed for Conall's shoulder and this time, since he'd been busy trying to get back the balance he'd risked losing when his sword had found nothing but air to push against, he wasn't quick enough to stop th blade that sliced his white shirt on his right shoulder, getting to his skin and making a red blossom appear on the white fabric. To do that, Eugene put himself in a dangerous position, Conall's sword pointing right at his abdomen. Fortunately, he was quick enough to jump out of the sword's trajectory before Conall had time to think. His opponent didn't let his wounded shoulder take his focus from the battle, and aimed for Eugene's chest, managing to cut his vest and scratch his skin. This time, having learned from the duel with the soldier, Eugene ignored the cut, and went for yet another lunge. Conall was about to move his sword from his right to his left hand, since he couldn't move his right arm fluidly, due to the cut Eugene had procured him. The Prince Consort hoped Conall was going to lose his grip when he aimed for the sword's hilt. He did so exactly while Conall loosened the grip on it to pass it over to the other hand, and the sword flew out of his hands. Later, Eugene would admit he had been very lucky to strike during that frangent, and that maybe, if he hadn't the duel would've ended differently.

Conall was rather stunned: not only had that thief wounded him, but he had disarmed him as well! He'd have never thought such a thing possible: he was one of the best swordsmen ever! Eugene grinned, and pointed his sword at Conall's throat. Conall recovered soon enough to get an advantage out of the time Eugene lost taking pride of that moment and ducked before the sword could reach him. He stretched out his arm and grabbed his sword, hitting Eugene in the shin with its hilt. The Prince Consort flinched in pain, but decided, angry with himself for having let the victory slip through his fingers, that it was no time for distractions. Conall got up and attacked Euegene's left side once more. He dodged the blow and aimed for Conall's left side, wounding him once again and jumping out of his opponent's sword's trajectory right after. He aimed one last time for the hilt of Conall's sword, but miscalculated, and sliced the back of his hand open. As an instinctive reaction, Conall let go of his weapon, and when he made a move to kneel and get it back, it was already too late, because Eugene's blade was pressed against his throat.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Can't believe there's just one chapter left! I just hope I don't get too boring in these last chapters, because lately I'm kind of out of inspiration. **

**Anyway, enjoy! :D**

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The King opened the door to the enormous sitting room where the Queen always refuged to have some time alone with herself and dive into her thoughts to find her in her usual spot next to the window. She was glancing at the landscapes outside the palace walls, hoping the familiar shape of her daughter on horseback would soon appear on the horizon, since there wasn't much more she could do. Not that she'd have followed the soldiers that had set off to look for Rapunzel if she could've. Oh, no, she'd always liked better reading about adventures in books than living them herself, and she'd have probably just caused trouble anyway. Her husband, instead.. She wondered why he'd decided to stay at the palace and wait. He'd always been in the front ranks, whenever there was any kind of mission to be carried out, and now that his own daughter was in danger.. She truly couldn't see what had kept him from guiding his men. Maybe he considered himself too old for that? Or did he think he couldn't leave her to govern for some time? She didn't know. Understanding her husband's reasons could be very difficult, and sometimes even she'd thought it must've been some mad instinct of his guiding him, but she always was on his side, and trusted his judgement almost more than her own.

"They'll be back soon, you'll see" said the King, approaching the armchair his wife had occupied and putting a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. She looked up at him and smiled sadly "I hope so" she said "I really do". She knew that he was lying just to comfort her (he'd always been an open book to anyone, let alone herself; and she'd never been stupid), but she wanted to believe him all the same. She couldn't have lost her daughter. Not again. She woke up in the morning thinking it had all just been a bad dream, but soon found out that it wasn't, that it was all perfectly real, no matter how much she wished with every inch of her being for things to be different. The King stroked her hair soothingly, trying to wash away the sadness that had been nesting inside her heart since two days before. He sat in the sofa across form her and took her hands in his.

"If there is one thing I know for sure, it's that Eugene will let nothing prevent him from finding her" he whispered. The Queen already knew that, of course. She'd seen those two looking at each other for a year now, and she could tell that it'd be hard to find two people more in love than they were. She knew love truly was unstoppable, but that didn't comfort her the slightest bit. All her love and her husband's hadn't been enough to bring back their daughter the first time, after all.

"Why didn't you go?" she asked, suddenly. She didn't know why she popped the question, but it just came, and she hadn't felt like stopping it.

"Go where?" the King asked, slightly startled by that improvise request of inormation.

"With the soldiers, looking for Rapunzel" she answered quietly, looking into his eyes.

"Oh, I didn't want to leave you alone" he replied, still holding her hand.

"I can look after myself, you know. And I think I can rule a kingdom for a few days as well" that answer had hurt her in her pride, and it shone in her beautiful green eyes.

"That's not what I meant" quickly but calmly explained the King, knowing how sadness and impotence could make her easy irritable "I didn't want to leave you here alone to think about our daughter, because I thought I'd be more needed here, to stay by your side and comfort you, than anywhere else"

...

Tied up. Conall still couldn't believe his hands truly were tied behind his back and that other strong ropes circled around his arms and torso, making any movement impossible. Only his legs had been left free to do what they liked, since they needed to transport him on horseback, and doing so would've been quite difficult if he'd been in the same state of a bag of potatoes.

He was riding (if sitting on a horse while it trotted, without being able to do anything, could be defined that way) with a huge ruffian behind him, who made sure he didn't fall off or try some crazy idea. He looked like the biggest of the group: no wonder the task to look after Conall had been assigned to him. Not that it was necessary, because he looked like his soul and spirit had been drained out of him. He felt completely helpless, after having been defeated by Eugene in duel. He'd always thought no one could've ever been able to be better than him, let alone make him prisoner! He just knew, now, that all was lost, that he'd never have his part of the treasure Gothel had discovered and was going to end his days miserably, in some dark prison in Corona.

He'd given up. After all he'd done, he was finally renouncing, knowing there was nothing he could do. He still thought he'd done nothing wrong at all, and that eternal youth was some sort of right of his, but right then, surrounded by those ruffians, with no possible way of escape, he understood there was nothing left to do, but stay in silence and keep his head high. Because even though he'd lost everything, he would never lose his pride, not in a thousand years.

Jean glanced at her former master and felt something like satisfaction worm its way into her heart. Yes, seeing Conall like that left her satisfied. He, who thought he was to rule the world and acted as if he had no deign rival, now treated as a mere prisoner, one like many others, except that the King and Queen would be a little unfair with him, since he'd kidnapped their daughter, and give him a couple of extra years to spend in the dungeons. If they didn't directly sentence him to death, of course. That thought made her wonder what would become of her once they got to the palace. Would she face the same destiny as Conall? She didn't deserve such a bad treatment, after all. She sure would have gotten several years locked up in the prisons, but she hoped not as much as Conall. She hoped the Princess would throw in a good word for her, something to make her parents be slightly more gentle while deciding how she should pay for her actions. And what about Leonard? He didn't deserve to be punished at all, poor fellow. Finding himself without a job already was hard enough a punishment for the boy, and she'd do all that was in her power to make sure the King and Queen just sent him back home, to try finding some new way to earn some money and manage to keep a roof above his mother's and brother's heads and enough food on their table. She shook her head, there were just so many questions she couldn't answer, and to which she didn't feel like giving an answer just then. She sighed and peeked over the shoulder of the thug riding the horse she was on and saw the castle of Corona starting to outline just behind the place where the forest suddenly ended. The satisfaction she'd felt while looking at Conall was now completely washed away, leaving place to anxiety. Anxiety for her future, one she didn't control anymore, but that now was in the royal family's hands.

...

"Your Highnesses!" a young guard burst into the room without knocking. The King thought it very rude of him to interrupt the conversation between him and his wife, but completely forgot about it when he heard the news the guard was bearing "They're here! Your daughter and your son-in-law! They're at the city gates!" the soldier was breathless after having run as fast as he could to inform the royal couple as soon as possible about the Princess's return. His face was red with effort, and he was gasping for air, now that he'd dealt with his assignment and could get some well-deserved rest.

The Queen's eyes widened, and she looked at her husband, who, like her, couldn't believe such news. They'd expected the worst, and they had just been proven wrong by the most amazing news: Eugene had succeeded in the task he'd assigned himself and had brought back their daughter just a few days after she'd disappeared without leaving any trace. It all felt too good to be true, but the King and Queen of Corona rose from the sofa on which they had been sitting and walked out of the palace, trying hard to force themselves not to run and go see for themselves their daughter's miraculous return. They only managed that until the whole troop of thugs appeared in front of them, riding what looked like packhorses, their muzzles distorted by all the effort it took them not to crumble under the weight of those massive men. And there, as out of place among those ruffians as a flower among coals, was Rapunzel. She looked tired, her dress was stained and torn along the edge and her hair had seen better days, but she looked uninjured, shining with happiness like the flower that had been her curse had shone with power.

The Queen stopped thinking, as overwhelmed with joy as she was, and ran to her daughter. Nothing else mattered, not anymore, at least. Rapunzel jumped off Max and hugged her mother so tight that for a moment the Queen couldn't breath. She'd been so afraid she'd never see her daughter again, and now it all looked just like a bad dream, being driven farther away with every moment that passed, shadowed by the fact that Rapunzel really was back, and was hopefully never going to disappear again.

The King came closer, and embraced both his wife and his daughter, forgetting the anxiety he'd felt during those days as if it had never been, too.

Eugene stood there, looking at that family reunion, the way he had when he'd brought Rapunzel back to the palace, the place where she belonged (even though her going barefoot more often than she wore shoes could've made anyone think otherwise). He'd wondered if he'd been a fool to go the castle with her, where most people looked at him as if he should've been locked up in the dungeons forever, for days on end, during the first month he'd spent there, but every time he'd asked himself that question, he'd shooed it just as quickly, realizing that he couldn't have lived without Rapunzel. Maybe he wasn't such an outcast anymore, after all. The people of Corona had almost grown used to the idea of him sitting on their beloved King's throne one day, even though Eugene himself had never even considered that possibility, not for the time being, anyway, and even the King and Queen seemed to, if he dare say so, love him as a son. It all looked so perfect right then. Maybe even too perfect to be true.

The Queen outreached a hand to him and Eugene took it, finding himself wrapped up in the hug as well just seconds later. _Well, if it's all a dream, or an illusion, or whatever, _he thought_, I just wish it would never end._


	20. Epilogue

**A/N: Last chapter... Hope you enjoy it, even though it's very short :D**

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Jean was speechless. She'd thought she knew people. She'd really thought so, before the Princess had come into her life (actually, it was Jean who had intruded into Rapunzel's bedroom in the middle of the night, but never mind that). Now she knew she'd been wrong. You never know what might be awaiting for you just around the corner, and people could be very surprising. You couldn't just catalogue them like you cpuld do with objects, or books. Otherwise Rapunzel wouldn't have fit into any category: she was one of a kind, and full to the brim with surprises. Not only had she forgiven her and freed her, but now she was even offering her a place to stay. And what place to stay! The royal palace!

This must be a dream, she told herself, as she watched the Princess with an incredulous expression (which must've been very hilarious to look at, since Eugene could barely keep himself from laughing, his lips pressed hard together). She surely hadn't heard well. That simply couldn't be possible. Not even for Rapunzel.

"Excuse me.. What did you say?" she asked in fact, trying to recompose herself. She did her best, but confusion and surprise were still written all over her face. Rapunzel smiled at her and repeated what she had asked her just moments before "I asked if you would like to stay here at the palace. Oh, and we would find Leonard a job as well, if that's what's worrying you. You said he needs the money for his family, right?"

Jean shook her head, trying to find something that didn't sound completely crazy in that conversation, but failing miserably. She stood a bit straighter and said "I... I really don't know... I don't know what to say, Princess.."

"Just say if you would like to" replied Rapunzel, still smiling, while Eugene had finally managed to control his impulse to laugh at Jean's bewilderment.

"I don't think I can accept the offer" she answered, looking at the ground. After all that had happened, Rapunzel felt like offering a place to live in? At the castle? It simply wasn't sane. She wasn't sure she'd deserved being rescued from the tower, let alone made an offer like that. She would simply be taking too much without giving anything in return. No, she definitely couldn't stay at the palace. Plus, she still had that dream to live in the forest to chase, right? Even though now she had to see what Leonard wanted to do as well. He needed a job, for his family.

"I ... I think I'll start chasing my dream, now that I can, but thank you very much all the same. Your trust and your friendship mean a lot to me." she smiled "As for Leonard... I don't know what he wants to do, but I'll talk to him and see what he thinks about it."

...

"I can't." said Leonard "I just can't work so far away from my mother and brother. I'd be able to see them very rarely, and if there was an emergency.. Plus, when would I manage to bring them the money? And the Princess is being way too kind with me, I really didn't do anything."

"You rarely do something useful" Jean teased him.

"Ha-ha, really funny. I'd like to remind you it's thanks to me that you're out of that tower" he replied, turning to look at her.

"Touche." she smiled "But seriously, Leo, you should consider this possibility! The pay as royal groom is fairly higher than the one Conall gave you, and maybe, after some time, you might even have enough money to buy a house just outside of Corona! Don't throw away this opportunity!" she tried to convince him. She wasn't so sure she was succeeding, but she really did hope so.

"What about you? You aren't staying, are you?" he asked, changing subject.

"You know I can't! Not after what I did." she answered, softly.

"But.. The Princess says you can!" he argued.

"Leonard.. Don't act like the kid you aren't. Just think about the offer you're being made. I don't think you'll ever find one as compelling as this one." Jean said, standing up. Leonard interpreted that gesture as a signal and asked "You're already leaving?"

He sounded as if he felt like he was being abandoned, and Jean almost changed her mind about the choice she'd made. But she quickly recovered "Yes. I have a forest waiting for me!"

"But..." Leonard tried to protest, unable to find the words. Jean hugged him tight.

"Hey, I'll see you again, I promise." she said, parting from him. She glanced around, looking for a horse. She spotted one of the packhorses the thugs had been riding, and walked over to it. She untied it and left a small bag of money in its place.

She waved at Leonard one last time and called to him "Think about the offer, Leo! And tell the Princess she can count on me any time. She'll just have to send a messenger in the forest to find me, first!" she laughed and rode off, sure that she was doing the right thing.

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**The end. **

**This is the first story I actually complete! I really enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoyed reading it, as well :D Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, favorited and even just read. It all means a lot to me. As everyone on FanFiction, I'm hoping to become a writer some day, and knowing there are people who like my stories makes me more confident. So.. Thank you, really. **

**Maybe I will do a sequel to this, but it'll take me a bit to plan out. Anyway, as soon as I'm about to post it, I'll add a chapter to this story saying so ;) **

**Until then.. Bye! :D**


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